The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative warned there’s a risk of ineffective or dangerous drugs from online pharmacies that are being illegally run.
In a report released Wednesday, the office singled out 19 countries that raised concerns of possible movement of counterfeit or pirated drugs.
“Counterfeiting and piracy is a shared global concern, harming people not just in the United States but also other countries,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement. “I urge our trading partners to join with us on the fight against counterfeits and pirated goods.”
The office also released its Notorious Market List that focused on the growth in illicit online pharmacies. It called on trading partners to improve criminal and border enforcement to combat counterfeit medicines.
The list identifies 38 online markets and 33 physical markets that are reported to engage in or facilitate “substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy.”
Roughly 96 percent of online pharmacies were found to be working against the law, operating without a license or selling medicine without prescriptions or safety warnings, The Associated Press noted.
The report highlighted the “evolving nature” of counterfeit sales, including in China, and that these pharmacies’ websites often look like legitimate platforms and sometimes have false claims of approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
The agency’s research pointed to a number of successes over the last year, including collaboration between the U.S. government and foreign governments to combat piracy and counterfeit efforts from Vietnam, Brazil, Kuwait and the Philippines.
