The following statistics may not give India much reason to cheer. The country is still the second largest counterfeit medicines exporter to the European Union in 2007, although it has forfeited the first position it held in 2006 to Switzerland.

As per data released by the European Commission on Monday, India stands second after Switzerland in the list of top exporters of fake medicines to the EU in 2007 with 35% of the total fake drugs seized. In 2006, India was the leading source of fake drugs exported to the EU.

Next to Switzerland and India, the United Arab Emirates comes third with 15% of the total amount seized, according to the survey titled, ‘2007 customs seizure of counterfeit goods at EU’s external border’. In 2006, India, together with the UAE and China, was responsible for more than 80% of all counterfeit medicines.

Overall, as per the 2007 survey, China remains the main source of counterfeit goods, with almost 60% of all articles seized coming from there. Cigarettes and clothing continue to represent a large proportion of all seizures comprising respectively 35% and 22% of the total amount of articles seized. In particular, medicine seizures have shown a dramatic increase of over 50%.

Also, in 2005, based on the European Commission’s Taxation and Custom Union (TAXUD) statistics, 75% of fake medicines cases originated from India, 7% from Egypt, and 6% from China. According to an earlier EU report, counterfeiters accept crude methods for manufacturing drugs such as filling the capsules with a mixture of brick dust with yellow paint used to mark roads to give it a colour similar to that of genuine medicine and furniture polish to give a nice, shiny finish.

The EU, in its statement issued in 2007, said, “Health and safety are a big issue, as witnessed by the sizeable figures relating to seizures of pharmaceutical products. The emergence of India in this sector reflects the developing industrial capacity of this nation and highlights the reality that counterfeiting is carried out on an industrial scale, in all sectors where a potential profit is perceived.”

In 2007, customs registered over 43,000 cases of fake goods seized at the EU’s external border, compared to 37,000 in 2006.

The number of articles seized decreased from last year’s peak of 128 million articles to around 79 million. This is due to a growing number of seizures involving smaller quantities of counterfeit and pirated articles. However, cigarettes and clothing continue to be faked in large quantities and there has been a worrying increase in sectors that are potentially dangerous to consumers like medicines, electrical equipment, and personal care products, EU said in its statement.

In 2006, India was in second position in ready-to-wear accessories segment with 19% article seized, following China . “Counterfeiting continues to pose a dangerous threat to our health, safety and our economy,” warns EU Taxation and Customs Commissioner L?szl? Kov?cs.

Enraged by the increasing fake drug supply, the European Commission had launched a public consultation on the dangers of counterfeit drugs and had invited ideas to be submitted for regulatory reform. As per foreign media reports, the commission plans to plug in the deficiencies in the supply chain integrity through strict adherence to Good Distribution Practice (GDP), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards and transparency in the distribution chain.