The European Commission has indefinitely postponed its planned proposal for revamping the pharmaceutical sector it was to take up in Strasbourg, France at the European Parliament’s plenary session. European Commissioner Gunter Verheugen, however, reiterated his position of making the tracing pharmaceuticals from manufacturers to consumers a priority. Addressing lawmakers, Verheugen said: “The technical solutions required to ensure traceability of medicines already exist.” With Europe becoming a target country from earlier position of just being a transit country and the change posing a “huge threat to (European) public health,” he said, “The Commission will come up with a legal act to tighten up the framework.”

Earlier, addressing journalists in Brussels, his spokesman, Ton Van Lierop, said, “The pharma package which was foreseen for today has been delayed. Some technical changes have to be made and they are being made now and then it will be tabled as soon as possible,” he said. Asked to comment on if he could give a particular date, he said, “I can’t give you the exact date at this moment.” On the subject of “technical changes,” the Commission spokesman said, “Specifying ‘no,’ but the general line of the package remains.” Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, a Deputy Commission Spokesperson added, “The preparations have to be finalised and it’s going to take some more time and at one of the next meetings (of the European Commission) you will see this package back on the agenda.” According to reliable sources, the “Verheugen Package” was too harsh on parallel trade in the garb of cracking down on the trade in counterfeit medicines. The regulations in the original proposals would have made it nearly impossible for wholesalers legally to move pharmaceuticals across the European Union’s open borders.

The repackaging controls restrictions, which require ensuring the correct language and coding information for usage on packaging and information leaflets, were lambasted by parallel traders as a response to lobbying by pharmaceutical manufacturers that allegedly want to squeeze them out of the distribution system and maintain higher margins. Now the sector pundits claim the revamped Verheugen Package will be in line with what the Commission spokesman had told journalists earlier in the month. “Parallel trade is a legal economic activity in the European Union, the Commission does not intend to change that.” “There is no ban foreseen on repackaging or relabeling. However, all the economic actors have to be complied with everything which will be in the proposals the proposal is not yet on the table as the discussions are still going. We have to wait for these details later this year,” he said then