MINSK, 3 April (BelTA) – Members of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus will consider ratifying the Council of Europe convention on the counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes involving threats to public health (Medicrime Convention) during the spring session, BelTA learned from Aleksandr Shipulo, Deputy Chairman of the Healthcare, Physical Training, Family and Youth Policy Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus.
According to the source, the convention clearly identifies from the legal point of view what medical products can be described as counterfeit and what crimes can present a threat to public health. The convention also allows instituting criminal responsibility and effective, commensurate, and preventive punishment. The document's implementation will promote cooperation between law enforcement agencies and medics and will improve international cooperation by means of creating and assimilating a multilateral information sharing scheme.
Belarus will be able to draw from the experience and borrow the best practices of the Council of Europe and the countries signatories of the convention in order to improve Belarusian laws and their application in fighting counterfeit products. Belarus' participation in the convention and the resulting efforts are expected to be taken into account by major international companies as they decide to operate on the Belarusian market and work with Belarusian partners.
Apart from that, international contacts of the Internal Affairs Ministry and the Healthcare Ministry will be expanded. The specialists will be able to receive more information about the latest trends in the sphere of fighting counterfeit medical goods. The promotion of Belarus' initiatives within the framework of the Council of Europe and the distribution of information about Belarusian accomplishments were also mentioned as positive results.
So far 16 countries have signed the convention, including Armenia, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine. Another 16 countries, including Belarus, have signed the document and are busy carrying out intrastate procedures to ratify it.
The Medicrime Convention is the first international criminal law instrument to oblige the states parties to criminalize the manufacturing of counterfeit medical products; supplying, offering to supply and trafficking in counterfeit medical products; the falsification of documents; the unauthorized manufacturing or supplying of medicinal products and the placing on the market of medical devices which do not comply with conformity requirements.
