A conference with 100 experts from 27 European States to finalize of an investigation guide to tackle pharmaceutical crime 26-27 March 2014, Lyon, France
Initiated by the Institute of Research Against Counterfeit Medicines (IRACM), with the support of the European Commission, the Pharmacrime conference is taking place on March 26 and 27 at Interpol headquarters in Lyon to finalize a key European project proposing new tools for the fight against counterfeit medicines.
This conference brings together experts from Health, Police and Customs, from 27 of 28 European states to strengthen the effectiveness of investigations in the fight against trafficking in counterfeit drugs. It contributes to standardize practices to facilitate the international judicial cooperation.
They are a hundred experts from the EU who finalized an operational investigation guide which will be distributed to the investigators of the States of European Union from June 2014.
Given the success of the first two phases of Pharmacrime dedicated to sharing best practices in fighting trafficking of fake medicines and developing methods to fight against trafficking on the internet, IRACM and its associated partners launch this tool which tackles issues related to the introduction of counterfeit drugs into the European licit supply chain of medicines.
The specific objective of Pharmacrime 3 is to deliver
a practical guideline for European investigatorsin charge of investigations against criminal groups attempting to penetrate licit supply chain with falsified medicines. The conference is supported financially by the European Commission and the International Institute of Research Against Counterfeit medicines (IRACM).
Several partners including IRACM have been working for months all together on this project. A European Expert Workshop was already organised near Paris in January with 25 participants. A two-day conference to revise and update the guide to the latest development in EU and adjust the guide to the perceived needs of EU investigating officers.
The project started in May 2013 and will finish in June 2014.
Associated Partners of the project Pharmacrime 3
IRACM, Eucojust, Interpol, Office Central de Lutte contre les Atteintes à l’Environnement et à la Santé Publique, Irish Medicines Board, Permanent Forum on International Pharmaceutical Crime, Medicine and Healthcare Product Regulatory Agency and Pharmaceutical Security Institute.
About Pharmacrime
Pharmacrime is an informal network of European partners fighting against falsified/counterfeit medicines. Its projects focus on investigations relating to pharmaceutical crime. Created on 2009, Pharmacrime is still proposing new projects to counter pharmaceutical crime which is dramatically growing since some years.
2009-1010 I Pharmacrime 1
Practical investigation cases and identification of good practice in the field of falsified medicines.
The conference gathered 130 participants and was organized in Brussels in 2010.2011-2012 I Pharmacrime 2
Specific issues of falsified medicines sold over the internet.
The conference was organized in Brussels in 2012.2013-2014 I Pharmacrime 3
Investigations against criminal groups attempting to enter the licit supply chain.
The conference will be organized in Lyon in 2014.
A 4th part of the project Pharmacrime is scheduled in 2015. It will take the form of a guide dedicated to the training of European judges and will offer the suitable tools for their needs.