Projet de loi portant assentiment à la Convention du Conseil de l'Europe sur la contrefaçon des produits médicaux et les infractions similaires menaçant la santé publique, faite à Moscou le 28 octobre 2011.
General information ¶
- Submitted by
- MR Swedish coalition
- Submission date
- March 7, 2016
- Official page
- Visit
- Status
- Adopted
- Requirement
- Simple
- Subjects
- Council of Europe medicinal product international agreement judicial cooperation industrial counterfeiting
Voting ¶
- Voted to adopt
- Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP DéFI ∉ Open Vld N-VA LDD MR PVDA | PTB PP
- Abstained from voting
- VB
Contact form ¶
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Discussion ¶
May 12, 2016 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)
Full source
President Siegfried Bracke ⚙
Mrs Lijnen, the rapporteur, has indicated that she refers to the written report.
Jean-Jacques Flahaux MR ⚙
The counterfeiting of medical products has become a really massive, and very alarming problem. During the debates of the Council of Europe on the drafting of the Council of Europe Convention on the counterfeiting of medicinal products and similar offences threatening public health, testimonies of victims of these counterfeit medicinal products demonstrated the relevance of this convention.
One victim came to explain the consequences of fake breast prostheses, the gel of which had been replaced by motor oils. As a result, the corroded envelope let in the end this oil spread through his body, causing serious injuries and disorders.
We know the number of victims: 30,000 in France alone and 300,000 in the world. What are the consequences for these women? Will they be able to benefit from a new settlement? Will they be cured in the long term? I don’t have the exact answer, but my intuition makes me think that evil is for them irreversible.
The development of the Internet also has a considerable impact on the spread of counterfeit medicines worldwide. These may contain toxic products that, even in small amounts, can pose a serious public health problem in the sector of slimming, stimulants and excitants. This throws reproach and suspicion on the pharmaceutical and medical sector, and gives the patient to the consequences of this lucrative trafficking, of which Ms. Lijnen very rightly emphasized the expansion.
Yes, dear colleagues, this convention, which is a first to combat counterfeit medical products and similar offences threatening public health, is necessary. We must ratify it as soon as possible; it is a beautiful legal guarantee that we offer to our fellow citizens.
We must also offer it, more broadly, to all citizens of the planet. In fact, I only take the example of Africa. One in three medicines in Africa is counterfeit, and 90% of counterfeit medicines come from India and China. We must therefore also strengthen our controls on the Internet and at the level of customs. I thank you.