Russian Parliament to take tough stand over counterfeit drugs

The Russian Parliament (State Duma) plans to significantly tighten responsibility for the production and distribution of counterfeit drugs, through the adoption of a special bill, which is expected to take place by the end of the current year.

Assuming adoption of the legislation, it is planned that criminal responsibility for the production of drugs and medical products without a license will result in at least five to eight years of imprisonment with a fine of up to 2 million roubles ($70,000). In the most severe cases, which resulted in serious consequences, 12 years of imprisonment and a fine in the amount up to 5 million roubles could be imposed on those responsible. This will be significantly strengthen the current norms in the Russian Criminal Code.

At present the problem of fake drugs is very pressing in Russia. According to official data of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, for the first half of this year the Russian law enforcement agencies detected up to191 series of 122 trade names of fake drugs, as well as 50 series of counterfeit pharmaceutical substances