WASHINGTON -- At a time when the safety of medicines coming through Canada to the United States is at the heart of the debate surrounding prescription drug importation, the Canadian government has tracked a sharp increase in the amount of prescription drugs being transshipped through Canada from foreign nations, according to The Partnership for Safe Medicines.According to Industry Canada, the Canadian government trade agency, there were significant increases in Canadian imports of pharmaceuticals from Singapore (30%), Ecuador (198%), China (43%), Iran (2,753%), Argentina (221%), South Africa (84%) and Thailand (52%) between September 2002 and September 2003. Counterfeiting rates in South Africa and Thailand are reported to be 30% or higher, and Iran has been identified by the U. S. Department of State as an active state sponsor of terrorism. None of these countries have a Mutual Recognition Agreement on Good Manufacturing Practices with Canada, which means that prescription drugs from these countries are not eligible for sale to Canadian citizens.Last month, the Pharmacy Alliance for Canadians released a report showing that 45.5% of the drugs purchased last year in Manitoba for the top 10 chronic conditions were shipped to the United States."We know that some Canadian pharmacies are having to source medicines from around the world to meet the growing U.S. demand," says Lew Kontnik, co-author of the book Counterfeiting Exposed. "We could be seeing a 'pass-through' from Tehran through Manitoba to our doorsteps with no inspection by Canadian or U.S. authorities, creating more risks for American patients."Canadian law specifically exempts pharmaceuticals intended for export from any regulatory oversight. Section 37 of the Canadian Food and Drug Act states: "The Act does not apply to any packaged food, drug, cosmetic or device, not manufactured for consumption in Canada and not sold for consumption in Canada.""Because Canadian law does not require the country to regulate or guarantee the safety of prescription medicines manufactured in foreign nations and transshipped through Canada to the United States, efforts to legalize importation of drugs from Canada will open an even wider loophole for criminals and counterfeiters and pose an increased risk to American consumers," says Marv Shepherd, Ph.D. from the University of Texas who studies drug importation and drug counterfeiting. "Canada is now importing from over 100 countries, but only has mutual agreements on good manufacturing practices with 18 countries."Congress, as well as many states and cities, is proposing prescription drug importation on a large-scale as one of the solutions for lowering costs and increasing access to medicine. However, the Food and Drug Administration has strongly cautioned against this unsafe course of action. "At a time when we are fighting a war against terrorism and holding hearings on how better to protect ourselves from attack, I think it is wrong to open our borders to potentially counterfeit and dangerous drugs manufactured or tampered with in unregulated and potentially hostile nations," Kontnik emphasizes.In its February 2004 report, Combating Counterfeit Drugs, the FDA said it "has recently seen an increase in counterfeiting activities as well as increased sophistication in the methods used to introduce finished dosage form counterfeits into the otherwise legitimate U.S. drug distribution system ... Thus, drug counterfeiting poses real public health and safety concerns today, and may pose an even greater threat in the future if we fail to take preventative measures now ... Although exact prevalence rates in the U.S. are not known, outside the U.S. drug counterfeiting is known to be widespread and affect both developing and developed countries. In some countries more than half of the drug supply may consist of counterfeit drugs."The Partnership for Safe Medicines is a diverse network of organizations concerned about consumer safety threats posed by the purchase and use of unapproved, counterfeit, substandard, mishandled or otherwise unsafe medicines.Visit the Partnership for Safe Medicines: www.safemedicines.org"