Labelling

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries Associations (EFPIA) is to pilot a barcode system that would enable pharmacists to verify each medicine pack before dispensing it to the patient.

The announcement came in EFPIA's response to the European Commission's public consultation on combating counterfeit medicines, which closed last week.

The EC is considering subjecting the entire distribution chain to pharmaceutical legislation and improving product integrity and traceability.

Under current EU rules, products can be re-boxed, re-labelled, over-stickered and tablets removed from their blisters and reconditioned. Such repackaging can involve removing the security seal and damaging unique identification codes by which a medicine can be traced.

EFPIA is calling for a ban on the repackaging of medicines. It said the main focus of the forthcoming legislative reform should be to ensure that the integrity of the original package was "absolutely guaranteed" throughout the entire supply chain, from manufacturer to patient.

The EC told Packaging News it was working through the responses and would publish its findings next month.

More information is available about the consultation here .