Uzbek government boosts anti-counterfeit laws

The government of Uzbekistan is gearing up to introduce stronger laws to tackle the trade in counterfeit and substandard medicines, which are said to be an "enormous problem" in the country.

In June, an amendment to the country's pharmaceutical law, as well as an update to the national Criminal Code, passed a first reading in parliament and if implemented will provide a clear definition of counterfeit and poor quality medicines and impose harsher penalties for those involved in their production and distribution.

A recently-published report from Business Monitor International indicates that fake versions of both generic and patented medicines flow into Uzbekistan from China, Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere, and the situation is exacerbated by the heavy reliance of the country on imported medicines.

"Like other Central Asian governments, Uzbekistan is seeking to reduce its abject dependence on imports while at the same time stoking regional exports," says the report.

One manifestation of this is an ongoing modernisation programme at the state-owned Uzfarmsanoat pharmaceutical company.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan seems to be riding out the economic downturn with the pharmaceutical market growing at around 12 per cent a year and tipped to reach $557m at consumer prices in 2013.

Potentially helping to stimulate market growth is a new draft medical insurance law which is being prepared by the Ministry of Finance and "appears to be aimed at modernising the ineffective current system put in place shortly after independence," according to BMI.