§ Mr. ShersbyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received concerning the importation of counterfeit pharmaceutical products; what 423W steps are taken by the Medicines Control Agency to prevent counterfeit products being sold in Britain; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyRepresentations concerning the importation of counterfeit products have been received from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
Steps taken by the Medicines Control Agency to prevent the sale of counterfeit products involve:
- (1) a sampling and testing programme operated by the Medicines Inspectorate with analysis undertaken by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Medicines Testing Laboratory at Edinburgh;
- (2) an annual programme of inspection carried out by the Inspectors of the Medicines Control Agency and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. All manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and community pharmacists are inspected regularly;
- (3) particular checks carried out by licensed importers to verify the identity of each batch of imported material.
We also rely on co-operation with the Customs and Excise and information received from the United Kingdom pharmaceutical industry, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, regulatory authorities in the European Community and the World Health Organisation.
We are considering whether any changes may be necessary to the United Kingdom parallel import licensing scheme. We also welcome the European Commission's recent initiative involving proposals for the licensing of wholesalers throughout the Community.