In data de 19 septembrie, Ministrul Sanatatii a cerut convocarea de urgenta a ministrilor UE, pentru a stopa practica exportului paralel: http://www.ms.ro/2017/09/19/ministr…
Reactia EAEPC (European Association of Euro-Pharmaceutical Companies), careia ADEM ii este afiliata, prin vocea CEO-ului Richard Freudenberg, nu a intarziat sa apara in data de 20 Septembrie, in publicatia online Politico Pro Morning Health Care, sub semnatura jurnalistei Carmen Paun. Va prezentam mai jos, textul in forma lui originala, in limba engleza:
PARALLEL TRADE FIGHT HEATS UP: The European Association of Euro-Pharmaceutical Companies, which represents parallel traders of medicines in Brussels, responded forcefully to the Romanian health minister’s recent call to end the parallel trade of drugs. Health Minister Florian Bodog said EU ministers should convene an emergency meeting of the Health Council to discuss the issue. But according to the association’s CEO Richard Freudenberg, “Bodog’s request to ban parallel trade is an attempt to cover up a failed national health policy,” he told us in an email. Freudenberg said the decision of pharma companies to withdraw thousands of products from sale in the Romania (part of Bodog’s rationale) can be explained by national policies — including government-imposed cuts to drug prices and a clawback tax under which drugmakers are penalized if sales of medicines exceed a certain threshold.
What’s the issue: Countries in Central and Eastern Europe have long complained that traders buy cheap drugs in Romania, for instance, to sell them for a higher price in countries such as Germany. Slovakia put the issue at the top of its health priorities during its EU presidency in 2016 and held a long discussion at a health ministers’ meeting in Bratislava, but failed to galvanize concrete action. Parallel trade is legal under EU rules on free movement of goods. Countries can restrict the practice, based on clear health concerns, for a temporary period.
Will EU ministers react? A spokesperson for the Estonian presidency of the EU confirmed it received Bodog’s letter and said the presidency will respond soon. While the Estonians would be hard-pressed to organize an extraordinary Health Council before the next scheduled one in early December, watch this space for their response.