FDA Commissioner Calls for APEC to Address Counterfeit Medicine, Etc.
During March 2, 2011 remarks at the APEC Dialogue on Corruption and Illicit Trade, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Hamburg stated that the issue of counterfeiting, particularly of medicine and other medical products, must be elevated to the highest levels of international discourse, both within APEC and more broadly.
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Manufacture Abroad, Supply Chain Complexity Increasing Medical Counterfeiting
According to Hamburg, it is now less risky and just as lucrative to counterfeit prescription drugs as it is to traffic in illicit drugs. In addition, the pharmaceutical industry has shifted a large part of its manufacturing operations and sourcing overseas in the past decade. The U.S., like many other countries, imports nearly 40% of drugs and 80% of active ingredients. Moreover, the supply chain has become increasingly complex, creating new points of entry for contaminated and otherwise falsified medicinal products to infiltrate. She notes that the medical supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
Counterfeiting Should Be Added to Nov 2011 APEC Meeting
Because counterfeits have a significant, negative impact on economies, job markets, law enforcement, health, and innovation, Commissioner Hamburg urged the conference to recommend strongly that the heads of governments of the APEC economies include counterfeits on the agenda when they meet in Hawaii in November 2011. (See ITT’s Online Archives or 01/21/11 news, 11012140, for BP summary of the White House announcing the Nov. APEC meeting.)