Law To Stop Duplicate Drug Flow

A new federal law aimed at preventing counterfeit goods from passing through the country will be implemented by the end of this year, a senior official from the Ministry of Economy told XPRESS.

The UAE has been cited as a transit point for counterfeit medicines coming from Asia headed for Europe and Africa.

To curb this, tighter regulations are in the pipeline. "The new law will help regulate the import and export of goods. More importantly, it will help further regulate free zones. Free zones will not be exempted and the federal law will apply to any crime that takes place in these zones," said Ali Al Baloushi, Director of Intellectual Works Office, Ministry of Economy.

The new law will help regulate the import and export of goods. Ali Al Baloushi, Director of Intellectual Works Office, Ministry of Economy

"The majority of the major counterfeit drug busts have been in free zones," said Dr Usama Abu Shaban, team leader, Pharmacy Inspection, Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD).

"The smaller ones are at other entry points where people bring in these drugs as personal medicine. But clearly free zones need further regulations."

Abu Shaban also said counterfeit medicines were marketed in original boxes in the UAE and pointed out instances of small shops selling counterfeit medicines. He said, "Given the global scenario, the situation in the UAE is not critical, but we do not want to see deaths and deformities caused by counterfeit drugs. These drugs cause unnecessary morbidity, weaken public confidence and cause huge losses to pharmaceutical companies, so we have to tackle this critical issue."

Abu Shaban said that one of the principal ways to ensure this is to have tight security checks at all ports of entry.

Al Baloushi said this issue will be addressed by the new law.

Global Meet

The first international conference on counterfeit medicines organised by the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) took place this week in Abu Dhabi to deal with the pressing issue of tackling counterfeit medicines.

According to statistics by WHO, up to 25 per cent of medicines sold in poor countries and 10 per cent of all medicines marketed in industrial countries, are counterfeit. Some estimates place the annual revenues generated from counterfeit sales at over $35 billion (Dh128 billion) globally.