Merck supports increased enforcement of existing anti-counterfeiting laws and the adoption of new public policies to strengthen existing laws and enforcement programs, including increased criminal and civil penalties for counterfeiters.

We advocate for such change in a number of ways:

• As a member of the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies ,Merck supports the efforts of the White House's Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator to combat online pharmaceutical crime. Merck supports initiatives to raise awareness of the dangers of purchasing from rogue sites and of the options to access legitimate online pharmacies.
• In 2008, Merck supported passage of the Safeguarding America's Pharmaceuticals Act, U.S. legislation that called for the creation of a standardized system to identify and track medical products across the supply chain through the development of uniform national standards.
• Merck submitted comments in 2008 to a proposed amendment to the U.S. Food and Drug Act requiring the agency to develop a standardized numerical identifier for prescription drugs by 2010.
• Also in 2008, Merck supported the European Commission's Legislative Packaging proposal on anti-counterfeiting that includes use of mass serialization, product security features, and tamper-evident seals.
• Merck supports the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which would increase protection against a wide range of intellectual property infringements.
• In 1997, Merck and other pharmaceutical companies created the Pharmaceutical Security Institute (PSI) to develop global security strategies focused on both prevention and enforcement to ensure public safety and product integrity. For more information, click here.
• Merck worked with the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) in 2008 to publish the first joint industry statement deploring counterfeiting and the associated dangers, "Zero Tolerance for Counterfeit Medicines."