Source: Folha.com - São Paulo / SP - EVERYDAY - 07/10/2010

At least five entities in the pharmaceutical sector have already expressed their opposition to the creation of an authenticity seal for medicines, announced yesterday (6) by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency). They classified the measure as mistaken and have already said that, if maintained, it should cause an average increase of 2,58% in consumer prices. For generics, the increase can vary from 6,3% to 23,1%.

Medicines will have stamp against counterfeiting and contraband

Yesterday, during the launch of the security seal, the CEO of Anvisa, Dirceu Raposo, said that the government will not authorize an increase in the price of medication. “This will be absorbed by the production chain. The impact is negligible, around 0,01% in products over R $ 5 ”, he explained.

The forecast is that, starting in January 2011, the boxes of medicines will start receiving the label. Manufacturers will have a period of one year to adapt and, in January 2012, all drugs in circulation in the country must present the seal. In drugstores, an optical reader will recognize real products through a green light and an audible signal.

By means of a note, the pharmaceutical industry asked for the measure to be revised immediately, "under pain of causing huge losses to the population" due to the rise in prices. The group considers the outdated security seal and cites as an alternative a two-dimensional system already in the testing phase.

The group of entities that signed the note includes Abimip (Brazilian Association of the Non-Prescription Drug Industry), Alanac (Association of National Pharmaceutical Laboratories), Interfarma (Association of the Pharmaceutical Research Industry), Pro-Generics (Association Brazilian Generic Medicines Industries) and Sindusfarma (Pharmaceutical Products Industry Union in the State of São Paulo).