India has been listed by the European Commission (EC) as the country which supply lion’s share of counterfeit drugs in the Europe.
MUMBAI: Another first for India, but this one leaves a bitter taste. India has been listed by the European Commission (EC) as the country which supply lion’s share of counterfeit drugs in the Europe.
According to the statistics presented by EC last week on the fake goods seized in Europe during 2005, India has been listed first in the section of medicines with supplying 75% of the total fake drugs seized. Egypt takes the dubious second slot, accounting for 7% of fake drugs seized.
Surprisingly, China, which accounts for more than 60% of the number of all goods seized, stands is in third place, with only 6% of the fake drugs.
Apart from fake drugs, India has been mentioned only for fake ready-to-wear clothes with a share of 3%. In terms of number of fake drug consignments seized, India stands third with 4%, after Indonesia (15%) and Egypt (5%). Out of the 75 million articles seized in 2005, fake goods from India accounts for only 2%.
The apparent contradiction in highest quantity of fake drugs being seized from India and largest number of fake consignments originating from Indonesia is mainly due to a unusually large number of small consignments from such countries.
In European Union, 26,000 cases had been registered during last year, which corresponds to an increase of 20% over the 2004 figure.
The wider range of products exported from India including antibiotics, cancer cure drugs, anti-cholesterol tablets.
However, as per the report, Viagra still remains the favorite pill of fake drug dealers all over the world. Fake condoms and HIV and pregnancy testing kits are other goods mostly exported to Europe. For an instance, counterfeits of a much sought after cardiovascular drug consisted of a mixture of brick dust, the yellow paint used to mark roads in order to give it a colour similar to that of genuine medicine and furniture polish to give it a nice shiny finish.
According to the report, fake drug dealers have started using new transport routes in order to evade customs control.
A 350 kg consignment of fake drugs, seized in the UK, was dispatched from China. The transit route was through the UAE and UK, and the final destination was Bahamas.
“We are working our best against counterfeit drugs in India and various other countries. However, the counterfeiters in countries like Bangladesh or Hong Kong put the label ‘Made in India’ in packets. So how the officials can confirm the drugs are manufactured in India,” said DG Shah, general secretary, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance.
Another expert said such reports are part of a ploy to malign India’s image as a leading generic drug manufacturing hub and the outsourcing hub for research works.
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