Kenya Anti-Counterfeiting Act criticised

A report in the Nairobi Business Daily states that a Constitutional Court challenge of Kenya's new Anti-Counterfeit Act will be will be launched early next year. It is alleged that the Act violates the right to health by confusing fake and generic medicines. Generics constitute 90 per cent of medicines used in Kenya. Representatives of two organisations co-ordinating access to essential medicines have stated that the Act contains ambiguities which could lead to misinterpretation, as the definition of counterfeiting could be read to include generic drugs.
The onus to verify whether goods are fakes or not has been put on Revenue authorities , rather than the police. One of the representatives, Christa Cepuch, who is HAI Africa director of programmes, states that "The law further gives these officials excessive powers, making the process difficult and expensive. Moreover, the onus to prove the products are not fakes lies with the accused, a price many will not be willing to pay”.
The full story is available at http://allafrica.com/stories/200912221173.html