Labeling will become a compulsory process in Russia from 2018

The labeling system for medicinal products will become compulsory from 2018, said Mikhail Murashko, the Head of Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare (Roszdravnadzor), during a working meeting on the organization of internal quality control and safety of medical activities.

“Today, this program is already created, and its beta version is installed at a number of manufacturers, pharmacy organizations, and distributors. From 2018, the labeling will become a compulsory process. Each medicine in circulation will have its own ID number in the form of a 2D pixel barcode matrix,” he said.

According to the head of the agency, the deployment of this system will help to address a number of challenges related to quality control, detection of counterfeit products, and price control.

“The labeling system for medicinal products will allow to avoid using a multitude of control measures. By using his smartphone, each patient and each buyer will be able to verify the legality of specific medicine, exclude the circulation of counterfeit and poor quality drugs, and check the price,” said Mr. Murashko.

He added that the introduction of drug labeling should be completed by January 1, 2019.

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