[Ip-health] Tanzania to conduct study on impact of Counterfeit goods

[Miles Teg]

Monday, 14 July 2008
Tanzania to conduct study on impact of Counterfeit goods

According to The East African newspaper, the Tanzania Food & Drugs
Authority(TFDA) will soon conduct a study to establish the manufacturers
of counterfeit medicines in that country. The study is to be carried out
to verify reports that in in 2005/2006, the market for counterfeits in
Tanzania raked in the equivalent of US$100 million!

The TFDA has a 5 year strategic plan to fight both locally manufactured
as well as imported counterfeit medicines. Some of the medicines that
are widely counterfeited include ampicilin capsules(250mg) and
chloroquine injections.

On the same subject, The Tanzanian Standard has reported that over 60%
of imported goods are counterfeits. At a recent workshop held by the
Tanzania confederation of Industry(TCI) to discuss ways of dealing with
the scourge of counterfeits, participants were informed that 60% of
medicines on the market are fake. They noted the tremendous efforts
being made by public institutions such as the Drug Regulatory
Authorities(DRAs), the Fair Competition Commission(FCC) and the Fair
Competition Tribunal in impounding and destroying counterfeits.

However, challenges still facing these institutions include weak
legislation and need for better inter institutional collaboration to
enhance effectiveness as well as following the statutory mandate of
respective agencies. Such agencies stand to benefit alot from financial
and technical assistance if the recent strong resolutions of the G8
states on counterfeits are anything to go by. The usual issues are what
mechanisms exist for accessing such technical support and whether in the
long run, stringent border measures can sufficiently dampen the high
demand for cheap /dangerous products.

The end result is that if the majority of the population in East African
countries are used to cheap counterfeits, they will never buy genuine
products at a higher price, much less those manufactured locally. This
situation needs to be addressed as matter of urgency at the highest
level possible by the East African Community(EAC) Secretariat.
Posted by Asiimwe Paul at Monday, July 14, 2008
Labels: counterfeit drugs, EAC, TCI, TFDA

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