Medicine market unblocked after concession stamps delayed

TIRANA, Aug. 13 – The Albanian government has unblocked a severe situation which risked leaving the country without medicines after a dispute with the wholesale medicine traders. An ordinance issued by Health and Finance Ministries this week has postponed a decision which obliged wholesale medicine traders to buy excise stamps from a local concessionaire and send them to the international manufacturing companies before entering Albania. The refusal to follow this procedure, due to come into force on August 6, had led to the blockage of the medicine market as dozens of lorries transporting medicines had been blocked at customs points because of lacking fiscal stamps issued by the concessionaire. At a request by outgoing Prime Minister Sali Berisha, the new procedure has been postponed for another four months and it will be up to the new government of Prime Minister-designate Edi Rama to decide what to do. The Socialist Party has pledged to lift the 10 percent VAT on medicines applied in the past couple of years as soon as it comes to power.
The Association of Wholesale Medicine Traders and the Order of Pharmacists had warned the country risked facing shortage of medicines while dozens of trucks of medicines were endangered because of their exposure to heat in customs points.
Back in 2011, Switzerland-based Sicpa was awarded a 10-year concession to produce and establish tax stamps control system on tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceutical products. The leading global provider of security inks and solutions will benefit 2 percent of income from the sale of tax stamps under the concession, worth 10 million euros, after being announced winner in an international tender.
The novelty of this concession is the implementation of Sicpatrace (Secure Track & Trace Solutions), providing control mechanisms against illicit trade.
Government will pay an average of 14.43 euros/1,000 tax stamps after reaching a deal to lower the company’s initial proposal by 31 percent. According to a Finance Ministry statement, 100 stamps for tobacco products will cost 20 euros, compared to 32 euros for alcoholic beverages, 22 euros for beer and 14.43 for medicines.