Serialized security label offers counterfeit-proof product to meet ensuing pharma regulations
This week Covectra, a serialization, authentication and track and trace technology services provider, launched its patented StellaGUARD security label.
The label is embedded with stars that are arranged in unique and random patterns and contain a serialized GS1 2D barcode, thus enabling real time authentication and serialized pedigree tracking through the use of a mobile app developed by Covectra.
The StellaGUARD label can be applied to virtually any package and material. It was developed by Covectra in anticipation of the EU’s 2019 Falsified Medicines Directive requirement for tamper evident seals on all pharma and OTC primary packages. The security label is integrated with Covectra’s EPCIS certified AuthentiTrack database, which now is managing more than 2 billion serial numbers. This enables the StellaGUARD label to be used not just for rapid authentication, but also for diversion detection and isolation as wel
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Raids at Chennai port to combat smuggling of fake currency into India
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and customs officials conducted raids at Chennai Port to combat the smuggling of counterfeit currency.
The raids began on Friday evening after DRI officials received a tip-off that counterfeit currency, including the new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 denomination notes, had arrived in the country. DRI officials are currently searching Chennai, Tughlakabad, Kanpur, Kolkata and Mumbai after receiving the tip-off.
All cargo is being screened at the Chennai port, with the outbound movement of containers requiring approval from the DRI. Inbound cargo has not been affected, according to Port authorities.
Officials believe that the fake currency was sent to India from either Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, or Nepal. The operations will end only after all containers sent from the aforementioned countries during an unspecified time period were checked by the DRI.
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Woburn Mother and Son Burned by $15,000 Worth of Untaxed Tobacco Products
WOBURN – When Woburn police pulled up to an apartment in the Glennbrook Estates they saw two cars with their doors open and packed to the roof with tobacco products, according to Woburn police.
Although initially evasive with police about where the tobacco products come from and where they were going, Soung S. Moon-Kim, 55, and her 23-year-old son Hyeok C. Moon, both of 200 Bedford Road, Apt. F20, finally produced three receipts – two from K-T Wholesale in Philadelphia totaling $1,148 in tobacco products and a $3,567 receipt that had no company name on it.
None of the dozens of boxes containing hundreds of of tobacco products – cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and wraps – had a tax stamp on them from Massachusetts.
http://patch.com/massachusetts/woburn/woburn-mother-son-burned-15-000-worth-untaxed-tobacco-products
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FDA to get tough with importers of fake products
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has resolved to deal with importers and manufacturers who import or manufacture substandard goods for the local market.
In an interview in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FDA, Mrs Delese Mimi Darko, asked importers and manufacturers to desist from importing or manufacturing poor quality products, but to “import what you believe you would be happy for your child to use.’’
Mrs Darko said from now on, importers and manufacturers would be held responsible for any such goods on the market, stressing that “the importers and manufacturers need to be told the importance of taking responsibility for the quality and safety of what they put on the market.’’
“So, if I decide to put this product on the market, I should know that I am fully responsible for the product from the time it enters the market until the time it is finished,” she said.
http://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/fda-to-get-tough-with-importers-of-fake-products.html
Lear MoreNAFDAC nabs fake wine dealers in Abuja, confiscates N100m worth wine
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) closed down four shops and confiscated N100 million counterfeit wine.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) has shut down four wine shops worth N100 million in Wuse market, Abuja, for selling fake and unregistered products.
NAFDAC’s Deputy Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Shaba Mohammed, made the announcement on Friday, March 18, in Abuja.
Mohammed said he led a team of NAFDAC officials on enforcement to the market in continuation of a renewed global anti-counterfeiting fight against counterfeits, Tribune reports.
https://www.naij.com/1094850-nafdac-nabs-fake-wine-dealers-abuja-confiscates-n100m-worth-wine.html
Lear MoreMassive crackdown on fake jewellery and watches in Qatar
Consumer Protection Department (CPD) has launched a massive crackdown on jewellery shops selling fake watches and ornaments of major brands. Since the beginning of the year, CPD under the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, has been conducting inspections at jewellery shops selling international brands like Chanel, Dior, Messika and Bulgari, among others, which were available at throwaway prices in the local markets, according to market sources.
The copy products were very similar to the original ones and hence they were in pretty good demand among both citizens and expatriates. Usually the customers are fully aware that the products are counterfeits but buy them since they are affordable and looks exactly like the original branded ones, The Peninsula has learnt.
The practice had affected the authorised dealers of branded products, which perhaps has led the concerned authority at the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, to launch the crackdown to curb the sale of fake products.
Lear MoreCombating Sale of Counterfeit and Falsified Medicines Online: A Losing Battle
The rapid growth of technology has transformed many brick-and-mortar businesses into online businesses, and medicines are now being sold over the internet. Influenced by the notions that online purchases are economical and do not require a prescription, the general public are keen to purchase medicine online through websites, social media and mobile apps. Online medicine purchase is presumed to be convenient and confidential, free from embarrassment of sharing personal and sensitive health information to a healthcare professional. Public in United States, Europe, Australia is generally aware that internet sales form part of the official medicines distribution channels, often a valid prescription is required for controlled medicine. However, unlicensed, substandard and falsified medicines with various dubious medical claims are advertised and sold illegally in many rogue online pharmacies (Jack, 2016). These include medications for weight loss, hair growth, and treatment of erectile dysfunction. Such medicines are termed as substandard, spurious, falsely labeled, falsified and counterfeit medical products by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Similarly, the European Commission defines such products as falsified medicines or fake medicines that pass themselves off as real, authorized medicines (European Commission, 2016). These medicines may contain substandard active ingredients, which are low quality and/or an incorrect amount, either too high or too low, and have not been properly evaluated by authorities in terms of quality, safety, and efficacy. It must be noted that falsified medicines are often confused with counterfeit medicines. According to European Commission, counterfeit medicines refers to medicines that do not comply with European Union law on intellectual and industrial property rights, for example, unregistered medicines sourced from parallel import (European Medicines Agency1). In this article, the illegal sales of both counterfeit and falsified medicines (CFMs) are discussed.
In 2012, the WHO estimated the CFMs industry to be worth USD 431 billion a year, but further estimates has not been reported in the recent years due to the fast growing, widespread practice of this industry, making it impractical to estimate on a global scale (Garrett,
2012). Authorities are finding it difficult to curb CFMs due to the lack of governance over the internet. Furthermore, fragmented cybercrime legislation leads to large substantive and procedural lacunae in law, rendering law enforcement efforts useless.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5432535/
Lear MoreRetailers caught in a bind as government cracks down on fake cigarette stamps
MANILA — A supermarket group wants authorities to issue clear guidelines, as its members look for ways to cooperate with the government in its ongoing crackdown against cigarette products carrying fake tax stamps.
Steven Cua, president of the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association (PASA), said association members are becoming “innocent victims” in the government’s ongoing efforts against unscrupulous tobacco manufacturers.
On Wednesday, three retailers in Manila were caught possessing cigarettes without the requisite internal revenue stamps. They have been charged for non-payment of excise taxes by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
“Right now, the government has not issued any pronouncement on how to go about the alleged illicit Mighty products,” Cua said in an interview. “Until there’s an instruction to stop selling from the government, it’s going to be business as usual.”
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Be Careful: Gov’t Warned Tax On Alcohol And Tobacco Could Increase Smuggling
Last week the finance minister, Audley Shaw, announced an increase in the special consumption tax on pure alcohol from $1,120 per litre to $1,230 per litre.
He also said the tax on tobacco products was being increased from $14 per stick to $17 per stick.
In a newsletter reviewing the latest tax measures, Denning said the Government should exercise caution to ensure the tax revenue expected from the measures does not suffer from the law of diminishing returns.
He noted that raising these taxes increases the incentive to evade them and products such as alcohol and tobacco are particularly susceptible to smuggling.
Denning continued that greater smuggling places more competitive pressure on legitimate, law-abiding operators and this can in turn trigger unintended consequences.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20170314/be-careful-govt-warned-tax-alcohol-and-tobacco-could-increase-smuggling
Sheriff: Calcasieu Parish deputy fired for smuggling synthetic marijuana, tobacco
3LAKE CHARLES — A Calacasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy has been fired after sheriff’s officials say he smuggled synthetic marijuana and tobacco into its jail.
Timothy W. Walls Jr., 26, of Lake Charles, had been bringing the substances into the jail since December 2016, according to a statement released Tuesday by the sheriff’s office.
An investigation found Walls did on at least five different occasions, according to the statement.
Detectives learned Walls had the contraband delivered to him at his apartment and would then bring it into the (Calcasieu Correctional Center) when he arrived for work,” the statement says. “Detectives also discovered one incident where Walls had the contraband delivered to him at the CCC while he was on duty.
http://kfdm.com/news/local/calcasieu-parish-deputy-fired-for-smuggling-synthetic-marijuana-tobacco
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