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The pharmaceutical industry in Europe is calling for a ban on the repackaging of medicines within the European Union in order to stamp out the growing threat of counterfeits.

This is not a new idea – but it’s a good one. But it’s often derided as the pharmaceutical industry calling for a policy change for reasons of self-interest rather than public health.

But at last weeks BIO convention in San Diego a European Commission representative said that Brussels is seriously considering proposals that would ban repackaging – a move that, if taken would (according to Reuters), “deal a blow to the parallel trade and could also help drugmakers' profits, since companies' revenues are currently eroded by arbitrage dealings in their products across borders.”

Does this mean that the European Commission is in the “pocket of Big Pharma?”

Hardly.

(In fact, it’s humorous considering the way the industry is treated over there.)

What it does mean is that, enfin; the EC is taking seriously what we here at drugwonks.com have been saying for some time – that parallel trade is the weak link in the pharmaceutical chain of custody and a prime target for counterfeit infiltration.

It’s also important to note that what the Europeans call “parallel trade,” we refer to as “importation.” And that Canadian Internet pharmacies get their drugs from Europe. (Note: over 20% of all pharmaceuticals legally sold in the UK are parallel traded into that island nation from other nations within the EU such as Greece, Latvia, Portugal, and Malta and often illegally from places such as Russia and Turkey.

“Safe” importation?

Perhaps in a parallel universe.