POSITIVE OUTLOOK FOR OTCs IN LATIN AMERICAN

During the World Federation of Proprietary Medicine Manufacturers 11th General Assembly held in Acapulco, Mexico at the end of last month, non-prescription pharmaceutical industry leaders from Latin America met to discuss the ways that existing economic alliances within the region (such as the Andean Pact or Mercosur) might be better used to promote harmonization of regulatory approaches and market liberalization for non-Rx drugs.

WFPMM director general Jerome Reinstein summarized the views expressed, by noting that, "if you look around the world, Latin America seems the natural place to work on a converging regulatory process." At the present time, he said, "we have 21 regulatory systems, and that slows down the process and thus reduces access to these products for peoples of the region. On the positive side, however, he noted that the region has few languages (notably Spanish and Portuguese) and a similar culture. The European Community, he added, "has already established directives for harmonization of the regulatory process as well as for non-Rx drug advertising; and the USA and Canada are working together more closely than ever."

"Specific tactics or agreed language is not so much the immediate target," Juan Martin of Bayer Argentina and vice president of the newly-formed Argentina non-Rx drugmakers' association remarked (see also Marketletter November 8), adding that "the issue for now is getting regulatory harmonization and market liberalization on to the table for discussion in the region." He said "we are already seeing some of this with the Andean Pact's consideration of joint drug approvals."