Every pharmacy in the UK will have a barcode scanner to identify individual packs of prescription-only medicines by 2017 if European anti-counterfeiting plans go ahead, the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has said.

But the government must confirm the timings for implementation, the NPA warned this week, because a lack of clarity could "hobble preparations" for pharmacists.  

An outline of the European Commission's plan for all packs of prescription-only medicines to contain a unique identifier code was expected in 2014, as part of a falsified-medicines directive to prevent counterfeit drugs entering the supply chain, the ABPI said.

"The worst possible scenario for pharmacy is delay caused by disagreement, followed by a rushed and disorderly implementation" Gareth Jones, NPA

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If the plans went through next year then, by 2017, every pharmacy could a have scanner in place that would authorise the codes at the point of dispensing, ABPI technical affairs manager Mike Murray said last week (March 6). The scanning system would require "a significant investment in technology, both by ourselves and through the pharmacy distribution chain", said Mr Murray in a presentation on how the falsified-medicines directive would be implemented.

Funding for the scheme would have to be decided by each EU member state, Mr Murray added.

But preparations for installing the system would be obstructed if the MHRA and the European Commission continued to send out contradictory signals about whether scanners would be introduced in pharmacies, said NPA public affairs manager Gareth Jones.

"The worst possible scenario for pharmacy is delay caused by disagreement, followed by a rushed and disorderly implementation," he told C+D.

Community pharmacy needed two to three years to implement the system and test the scanners and software, he added.

Last year, the MHRA sent a letter to the European Commission in which it argued that scanning all prescription-only medicines could result in "disproportionate expenditure" and "harm public health by diverting funds from services that offer greater health benefits".

The MHRA said it was unable to comment on the likelihood of scanners being installed by 2017, as negotiations in Europe were ongoing.