NCJ Number
243071
Date Published
March 2013
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This United Nations report provides an overview of activities of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to counter fraudulent medicines and to assist Member States in disrupting and dismantling organized criminal networks involved in this activity.
Abstract
This report from the United Nations Economic and Social Council provides an overview of activities of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to counter fraudulent medicines, including their trafficking, and to assist Member State in disrupting and dismantling organized criminal networks involved in this activity. The UNODC hopes to provide Member States with the capacity to disrupt and dismantle these organizations engaged in all stages of the illicit supply chain. The report identifies the challenges faced by Member States in their efforts to successfully counter trafficking in fraudulent medicines such as a lack of definitions for terms such as counterfeit, illicit, fake, substandard, or falsified medicine; and the lack of legal and regulatory frameworks in many countries. Additional sections of the report discuss existing frameworks and the complementary role that can be played by the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, as well as research activities on the involvement of transnational organized crime in trafficking in fraudulent medicines and technical assistance activities that promote the use of the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.