Back 7th Plenary meeting of the Committee of the Parties of the MEDICRIME Convention

7th Plenary meeting of the Committee of the Parties of the MEDICRIME Convention

The Committee of the Parties of the MEDICRIME Convention held its seventh Plenary meeting (28-29 November 2023).

During this meeting, the MEDICRIME Committee adopted both a Guidance Note on the term “counterfeit” and the MEDICRIME Strategy 2024-2025 to combat falsified medical products. Moreover, other issues were discussed, such as:

  • The protection of public health in times of pandemic;
  • A survey on falsification of medical products for veterinary use;
  • The 24/7 Network to strengthen international cooperation in criminal matters.

19 Parties (out of 23) to the MEDICRIME Convention, 5 observers (out of 8) and 2 international organisations exchanged information, experiences and good practices to fight against the falsification of medical products and other similar crimes.

Following the successful event organised in Brescia, Italy, Parties have agreed to strengthen its work to encourage signatory countries to accede to the MEDICRIME Convention. Moreover, the work to accommodate the MEDICRIME convention into national legislation from Côte d’Ivoire has also been welcomed and encouraged to other countries.

Strasbourg 29 November 2023
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Covid 19

At a time when the Covid-19 epidemic is posing unprecedented challenges to the health sector, the Council of Europe calls on governments to be extremely vigilant against counterfeit or falsified medicines and medical products. Faced with this threat, states can rely on the MEDICRIME Convention to safeguard public health and target the criminal behaviour of those who, like criminal networks, take advantage of the loopholes in our systems and of the current crisis.

Handbook for Parliamentarians

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Handbook for Parliamentarians

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"In recent years, occurrences of counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes have increased worldwide. These crimes endanger public health, and affect patients and their confidence in the legal marketplace.

Even more profitable than drug trafficking, this new form of crime has an undeniable advantage for criminals: they go largely unpunished or receive only mild sanctions. Even when states take strict measures to regulate the production and distribution of medical products and devices, these measures often prove insufficient, especially when criminal networks find gaps in national legislations allowing them to make substantial profits at the expense of people’s lives and health. The MEDICRIME Convention was drafted to protect vulnerable patients and their right to safe access to medicines of appropriate quality, and to fight against organised crime. As the first and only international treaty dealing with this problem, the convention aims at prosecuting the counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes, protecting the rights of victims and promoting national and international co-operation."

Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni
Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe