EXCLUSIVE

Pharmacists should engage with their representative bodies to find out the truth about upcoming EU anti-counterfeiting legislation, the British Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (BAPW) has said.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), the NPA and Pharmacy Voice were “aware of what’s going on and will be able to give the facts” about the EU directive, which will require pharmacists to electronically scan medicine barcodes at the point of dispensing from 2018, BAPW executive director Martin Sawer told C+D on Wednesday (April 29).

There was "a lot of misinformation flying around" about the plans, and pharmacy organisations could "lead on this" issue, he stressed.

Mr Sawer said it had not been decided exactly how the system would be rolled out in the UK, but stressed the implementation of the legislation was on track to be completed by 2018. The success of the anti-counterfeiting measures depended on the IT system supporting it “working properly”, but Mr Sawer said he was "confident ... the supply chain will have worked out how to put it into practice". 

Under the system, each pack of medicines will contain a unique bar code to allow wholesalers and pharmacists across the EU to detect counterfeits. Barcode scanning in every pharmacy would have “a lot of benefits" for the sector, such as better stock control and communicating patient information, Mr Sawer added.

Stakeholders such as the BAPW, the NPA, the RPS and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), had pledged their support for the EU plans on April 15, Mr Sawer said. The group held regular meetings, which were also attended by the Department of Health and the MHRA, to ensure the smooth implentation of the legislation, he added.

Last year, Mr Sawer told C+D that a delay in the legislation, which was originally due to come into force in 2017, was “good news” for pharmacists because it gave them more time to “align their systems with the requirements”.

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