AMCU expects support for initiative to ban advertising of medicines

Kyiv, December 10 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The introduction of a ban on the advertising of medicines will be supported by lawmakers, Acting Head of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) Yuriy Kravchenko has said.

He said this at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on December 9.

Kravchenko said that a number of roundtables had been held on this issue with the participation of government representatives and parliamentarians. The initiative to ban the advertising of medicines, in particular, is being supported by the Verkhovna Rada's committee on health.

"The advertising of medicines should be banned… I don't know how this will be done and whether this will be a government bill or a deputy bill. I think that this will most likely be the second option, and such a deputy bill has already been prepared or, in any case, is already being prepared, because there is a general consensus on banning such advertising," Kravchenko said.

Parliament earlier rejected such an initiative. In October 2010, only seven lawmakers voted at first reading for the adoption of a bill amending the Ukrainian law on advertising (regarding the advertising of medicines).

Kravchenko also announced statistics on violations in the sphere of unfair competition.

"Unfortunately, the statistics show a large number of cases of unfair competition. Over 300 such cases were recorded this year alone, while fines for unfair competition this year were estimated at up to UAH 10 million," he said.

President of the Association for Resistance to Unfair Competition (ARUC) Sergiy Shklyar, in turn, stressed the need to create a common platform to exchange experience in combating unfair competition.

"The purpose of the association is to create a good working base for the exchange of experience, both in Ukraine, and experience with our foreign counterparts, in order to try to identify the problems that exist [in the sphere of unfair competition] and resolve them," Shklyar said.

The ARUC is a public organization established in Ukraine to promote the development of a fair competitive environment at the national and international levels, protect the associations' members from unfair competition, and to promote the principles of fair and equitable competition.

The association is a member of the International League of Competition Law (Switzerland).