§ Mr. McCrindleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will undertake an inquiry into the illegal import of medicines, including the extent to which such medicines are unlicensed; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Hayhoe[pursuant to his reply, 28 February 1986, c. 716]: My Department is already making inquiries and investigations in all cases where there is evidence, from any source, that medicinal products, which have been imported, are being sold or supplied in contravention of the Medicines Act and European Community pharmaceutical directives. As a result of these investigations, enforcement, including, where appropriate, prosecution, is being pursued where there is sufficient evidence to warrant this.
In order to aid enforcement, a list of medicinal products which have been granted United Kingdom product licences (parallel importing) has recently been issued to representative organisations, for general use by their members. This list shows the EC member states in which the product is licensed, since it is only from these countries that the product may be imported. This list is at present updated monthly.
If my hon. Friend has any information on unlicensed medicines on sale or supply in the United Kingdom I should be grateful if he would send it to me so that my Department can look into it.