The State Service of Ukraine of Medicine and Drug Control presented a phased plan for the introduction of medicines labeling which will become mandatory in 2023.
On September 1, 2019, a pilot project on medicines labeling is launched to protect consumers from counterfeiting, – Marina Slobodnichenko, legal expert of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on medicine labeling, announced at a press conference. As part of the pilot project, which will last until the end of 2020, the Ministry of Health will work out a system of interaction between participants in the medicine supply chain – manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies. Mandatory medicine labeling will be introduced in stages over the period 2021–2022, and from January 1, 2023 it will become mandatory for all medicines of Ukrainian and foreign production.
Special marking will look like a 2D-code containing information about the manufacturer, expiration date and the like. According to representatives of the Ministry of Health and the State Service, such labeling will allow keeping records of medicines and tracking their circulation, but will not affect the price. Manufacturers and pharmacies support this initiative – the new system will reduce losses due to smuggling and counterfeiting. The Ministry willo determine which medicines will be labeled during the pilot project together with the manufacturers. The list may include the most popular medicines included in the Affordable Medicines state program and drugs that the manufacturer considers to be a risk category in terms of fakes.
