Saturday, November 15, 2003

Medicinal products to carry new seal

MUAR: A hologram label similar to that used as security seals on ?500 notes will be used by Malaysia to protect consumers from fake and unregistered medicinal products from next year.

At present all medicine and health-related products carry the label “MAL”. But this could be printed by anyone, said Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng.

He said Malaysia wanted to introduce the seal to authenticate the contents of such products and to ensure consumer safety.

The move is also aimed at putting a stop to the sale of fake, uncertified and unregistered medicine, he said on Wednesday.

He said a recent call by the World Trade Organisation for Malaysia to curb the entry and sale of fake medicine had caused concerns, and the ministry would step up its plans to introduce the hologram seal.

“The ministry’s pharmaceutical division is looking into the hologram sealing system, which is being used as security seals in the European Union on ?500 notes,” he said.

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