Due to numerous media requests here are Sgt Duncan Pound's speaking notes and a list of potential offences related to counterfeit drugs.

Sgt Duncan Pound Speaking notes– Operation Pangea II
Good morning and thank you for coming. I’m Sergeant Duncan Pound with the RCMP Border Integrity Program. With me is Chief Heather Ardiel from the Canada Border Service Agency.

We are here today as part of Operation Pangea II, an international campaign coordinated by INTERPOL and the World Health Organziation’s International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce. Operation Pangea II involves law enforcement and health officials from 26 countries and has as a primary goal the education of consumers about the dangers of counterfeit drugs and pharmaceuticals being sold online.

Internationally we are seeing an increase in websites and email advertisements claiming to offer cheap, legitimate and legal products. Frankly, these claims are almost entirely false.

These websites, which look professional and often claim to be Canadian, are likely run by international organized crime groups. The sites are usually not Canadian operated, not located in Canada and nor is it likely the product is produced in Canada. The sites are intended to mislead the buyer into trusting what appear to be Canadian products. It has been our experience that these groups identify a trend or need and then they provide a counterfeit product for people to purchase. We’ve seen it extensively with popular products such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra which are routinely found arriving in Canada from abroad. As you are all no doubt aware, the current world situation with respect to the H1N1 vaccination has resulted in recent International reporting of unauthorized and bogus vaccinations being offered for sale.

A large portion of these products arrive in Canada via the mail stream at facilities like this one we are at today. The Canada Border Services Agency plays a vital role in the detection and interdiction of these products. I would now like to ask Chief Heather Ardiel to make some comments.

The RCMP wants to warn Canadians that the danger with any counterfeit medicine is that you have no idea what is in the product or how it will affect you. It is playing Russian roulette with your health. The best case scenario with counterfeit drugs and pharmaceuticals is that what you take is harmless, the worst case is that it is life threatening. Purchasing medicines on-line is almost a guarantee that you have thrown your money and possibly your health away.

The level of sophistication present within modern counterfeit products is very high and improving every day.

As you can see from the examples shown some of the counterfeit drugs closely resemble the actual product they claim to be. It should be stressed that counterfeit producers take great pains to have their product visually match the original; they take no such effort to ensure that the content of the product meets the same high standards demanded of the original.

As I have mentioned the people selling these products are often connected to organized crime groups operating internationally. These groups do not have to be large gangs, but could be small groups of individuals pushing out fake drugs. No matter what the type of group, everyone have to be aware that they are driven by greed. Their profit is made by avoiding quality control and using substitute ingredients. They do not care about the people to whom they are selling the product, and nor do they care about what might happen the people that put their product into their bodies.

The RCMP has identified combating Organized Crime as one of its top five National Strategic priorities and continues to work diligently with our National and International partners to locate, charge and dismantle the groups producing and distributing these unauthorized medicines and pharmaceuticals.

The RCMP is here today to deliver the message that the foundation for the most effective law enforcement remains that of crime prevention through community policing. As a community, we all need to exercise caution and avoid risking our health. Speak to your doctor about medicines. Obtain your prescriptions and medicines through a legitimate Pharmacist. There are no short cuts when it comes to medicines and your health.
Thank you.

 Heather Ardiel speaking notes:

Good morning. My name is Heather Ardiel and I am the Chief of
Operations, at the Canada Border Services Agency International Mail
Centre in Vancouver.

Every day, government agencies work together to protect the health and
safety of Canadians. And today, we are here to provide you with a very
good example of such inter-agency cooperation.

CBSA officers thoroughly screen all travellers and goods coming into
Canada, and examine more closely those that may pose a threat to the
safety of Canadians. This is just as true in the mail environment, as
it is at any other port of entry.

Officers at our three International Mail Centres in Vancouver, Toronto
and Montreal process approximately 30 million pieces of mail every year.
And, when CBSA officers encounter goods they suspect to be counterfeit
or regulated, they are referred to the appropriate agency for
determination and action.

Online purchases of pharmaceutical and health products have been a
global phenomenon for more than 10 years, and CBSA officers routinely
encounter products of this nature during their examinations. In the past
six months alone, CBSA officers at the Vancouver International Mail
Centre have intercepted more than 10,000 parcels containing unapproved
pharmaceutical and health products that have arrived in the mail from
foreign countries, primarily China.

These products fall into four general categories:
* suspect counterfeit prescription drugs;
* health supplements that contain undisclosed prescription
medicine;
* mislabelled health supplements, and
* products containing steroids and other controlled or prohibited
substances.

You'll see in the bins flanking the table, a large number of packages
which have been intercepted by CBSA officers and referred to Health
Canada for determination. Health Canada has informed us that many of
these products include suspected counterfeit products or tainted health
products - such as health supplements containing undisclosed
pharmaceutical medicines.

The Acai berry supplements are a good example. We've seen a huge number
of these supplements here recently, mostly from China.

When we first encountered this product, we suspected it might contain
substances which fall under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and
referred a sample of the product to the CBSA lab in Ottawa.

CBSA officers send hundreds of samples to our lab, and a new unknown
product arriving in high volumes from an unknown exporter is often
tested to determine what it contains. Many times, the product will
actually be something other than what it is labeled as, and frequently
it will fall under CBSA jurisdiction under the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act. A good example of this would be the high volumes of
steroids we intercept, declared and disguised as other products. With
respect to the Acai berry products, there were a number of brands of
similar products arriving that were tested and found to contain
Sildenifil, a prescription medication found in such drugs as Viagra, and
these products were referred to Health Canada. Some of the Acai berry
products that were tested did not contain controlled or regulated
substances, and these were allowed to come into Canada."

The bin beside me is filled with packages of Acia berry supplements that
have been intercepted by CBSA officers here in Vancouver. This is just
the tip of the iceberg, this bin is a small sampling of the total
volumes we actually see. I should also point out that, while these
packages arrived at the Vancouver International Mail Centre, they were
destined to addresses all across Canada.

In a moment, Sgt Duncan Pound from the RCMP will provide you with more
details on these - and other - dangerous products.

While it is our aim today to inform consumers about the dangers of
purchasing such goods from unreliable Internet sources, I would like to
assure you that the CBSA will continue our vigilance in interdicting
these dangerous products, and we will continue to work with the RCMP to
enhance the safety of all Canadians.
 

Offences & Punishment under the Food and Drugs Act are in S.31

31. Subject to section 31.1, every person who contravenes any of the
provisions of this Act or of the regulations made under this Part is guilty of
an offence and liable

(a) on summary conviction for a first offence to a fine not exceeding five
hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or
to both and, for a subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both;
and

(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine not
exceeding five thousand dollars or to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding three years or to both.

Specific offences related to importing of prescription drugs (those listed
in Schedule F to the Food and Drug Regulations) are:

C.01.045. (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person other than

(a) a practitioner,
(b) a drug manufacturer,
(c) a wholesale druggist,
(d) a registered pharmacist, or
(e) a resident of a foreign country while a visitor
in Canada, shall import a Schedule F Drug.

Offences for commercial importations include the following:

Food and Drug Regulations

C.01A.004. (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall, except in
accordance with an establishment licence,

(a) fabricate, package/label, distribute as set out in section C.01A.003,
import or wholesale a drug; or

(b) perform the tests, including examinations,
required under Division 2.

(2) A person does not require an establishment licence
to perform tests under Division 2 if the person holds an
establishment licence as a fabricator, a
packager/labeller, a distributor referred to in
paragraph C.01A.003(b) or an importer.

(3) No person shall carry on an activity referred to in
subsection (1) in respect of a narcotic as defined in
the Narcotic Control Regulations or a controlled drug as
defined in subsection G.01.001(1) unless the person
holds a licence for that narcotic or drug under the
Narcotic Control Regulations or Part G of these
Regulations, as the case may be.

Food and Drug Regulations

C.01.014. (1) No manufacturer shall sell a drug in dosage form unless a drug
identification number has been assigned for that drug and the assignment of
the number has not been cancelled pursuant to section C.01.014.6.


(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of a drug listed in Schedule C to
the Act, whole blood and its components, or a medicated feed as defined in
section 2 of the Feeds Regulations, 1983.

Food and Drug Regulations

A.01.044. Subject to section A.01.044, no person shall import into Canada
for sale a food or drug the sale of which in Canada would constitute a
violation of the Act or Regulations