Pharmacists have faulted a move by the Anti Counterfeit Authority (ACA) to regulate the importation of medicine and other essential medical supplies.
The authority introduced changes that will see pharmaceutical firms register their Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) on all goods to be shipped into Kenya from January, 2023.
This makes it illegal to import goods into Kenya for commercial purposes if they bear a trademark, trade name, or copyright that is not recorded in the state agency’s database.
However, in a protest letter to Trade and Industry Principal Secretary, Kenya Pharmaceuticals Distributors Association has raised objections on grounds that the exercise is unconstitutional, unlawfully and a contravention of Kenya's competition laws.
KPDA says the country is heavily dependent on many medicines that are unbranded, or whose trademarks, for economic reasons, are not registered in Kenya.
“Prohibition of the importation of these products will severely prejudice the people of this Republic to poor quality health services characterised by poor supply of essential medicines,” said KPDA's president Kamamia Wa Murichu.
Currently medicines are regulated by the Ministry of Health and the Pharmacy and Poison Board (PPB).
This includes registration, importation licensing, declaration of quantities, and declaration of values.
“We have been informed that the Anti-Counterfeit Authority will require distributors of medicine to buy excise stamps or something similar and affix them to all medicines imported into Kenya,” said Murichu.
He says this equates to a cruel way to treat the sick and the dying by charging them a sin tax.
KPDA argues that the proposed changes will push up business costs and severely reduce the ease of doing business in Kenya.
Under the new law, the penalty for a first-time offender is three times the value of the prevailing retail price of the goods while a subsequent offender will be penalised five times the value of the prevailing price of the products.
The ACA had earlier set a July 1, 2022 compliance deadline but gave an extension following disruptions linked to the August elections.