ArmInfo. The State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition (SCPEC) of Armenia proposes a solution to the problem of high prices for medicines in the republic.
According to the head of the Antimonopoly Commission, Gegham Gevorgyan, on his Facebook page, consumers often complain that medicine prices are higher in Armenia than in other countries. "The studies conducted SCPEC among economic entities showed that the high cost of medicines is due to high import prices, since manufacturers often provide the same products to countries at different prices," he said.
The solution to the problem, according to the SCPEC, may be a system of parallel imports (import of goods outside the distribution channels, which is agreed with the manufacturer - Ed.), Which currently works inadequately. As a result, there are problems with the import of drugs by cheap methods both from the territory of the EAEU (in particular, from Russia) and from third countries. "The reason is that the necessary condition for obtaining permission for parallel import in Armenia is 100% compliance of imported and registered drugs.
Meanwhile, in international practice, parallel import of drugs is also allowed in cases where differences between registered and imported drugs are not affect their safety and effectiveness, "explained the head of the Regulator. As a result, the SCPEC developed and proposed a number of amendments to the Law on Medicines, within the framework of which it is expected that the restrictions on imported medicines that do not affect their safety and effectiveness will be removed.