Drugs (Black Market) (Hansard, 20 January 2003)

§ Tim Loughton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with pharmaceutical companies about drugs provided at cost to African countries being resold on the black market in the UK. [89938]
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§ Mr. Lammy
Officials from the Department and others have had extensive discussions with pharmaceutical companies about the problem of drugs sold at discounted prices to poorer countries being diverted into the European Union and other developed country markets. The subject was also discussed in the working group on access to medicines, chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for International Development, and which reported to the Prime Minister on 28 November 2002.
The report, a copy of which is available in the Library, recognised that measures to prevent diversion were one of the essential elements of a wider framework of measures to enable companies to offer substantially lower prices in poorer countries. The Government continue to work with the United Kingdom and industry internationally to take forward the proposals in the report.

§ Tim Loughton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he has taken in collaboration with the Secretary of State for International Development to combat the illicit resale of drugs provided by pharmaceutical companies at cost to African countries into European markets. [89939]

§ Mr. Lammy
The working group on access to medicines, chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for International Development, included in its discussions possible measures for preventing discounted medicines destined for poorer countries from being diverted to the European Union and other developed markets. A copy of the report, published on 28 November 2002, is available in the Library.
There are a range of measures that could help—for example, effective control of distribution within the developing country; border measures in developed country markets; and differentiation of product packaging. These issues are under discussion as part of the follow-up to the working group report. In addition, the European Commission has published a draft Regulation to strengthen customs controls in this area. It is still under discussion among EU member states.
Regardless of these possible measures, any suspected sales in the United Kingdom of medicines that do not comply with the licensing requirements of the Medicines Act 1968 can be reported to and investigated by the Medicines Control Agency.