The Council of Europe drafted, for the first time, a binding international convention in the criminal law field on counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes involving threats to public health: the MEDICRIME Convention.

This international treaty establishes as offences:

• the manufacturing of falsified medical products,
• supplying, offering to supply and trafficking in falsified medical products,
• the falsification of documents,
• the unauthorised manufacturing or supplying of medicinal products, and the marketing of medical devices that do not comply with conformity requirements.

The convention also lays down a framework for national and international co-operation between the competent health, police and customs authorities, measures for crime prevention involving the private sector, and provisions for the effective prosecution of crime and the protection of victims and witnesses. Furthermore, it provides for the establishment of a committee to follow up on the implementation of the convention by the States Parties.

Text of the Convention Explanatory Report (250KB) Unofficial translations