EU accused of risking lives by rejecting UK testing plea
THE European Union has been accused of risking lives by insisting on lengthy checks on vital medicines and potential coronavirus vaccines produced in Britain after Brexit.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, has rejected UK calls for mutual regulatory recognition on medicines and medical devices during negotiations on the post-Brexit free trade agreement, which continue next week.
British proposals would prevent the need for medicines, devices and any UK produced coronavirus vaccine to be tested twice in the newly separated UK and EU jurisdictions, which could lead to delays in critical supplies and cost companies hundreds of millions of pounds every year. Supply delays for medicines are estimated at up to four to six weeks, but substantially longer, up to four months, for complicated products such as vaccines.
A UK government official said: “The UK’s proposals would provide significant benefits to patients, industry and regulators in the EU and UK, including by avoiding any new delays to access to medicines. We hope that the EU will engage with the proposal so that we can deliver these mutual benefits.” The EU has agreements on batch testing of medicines with the US, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, Israel, Australia and New Zealand on public health grounds, but has refused to grant the UK similar terms.
EU sources rejected the claim that “onshoring” testing to the EU would risk lives. They insisted that most testing labs had already transferred their credentials to EU jurisdictions and the industry was ready for the end of the transition period on Dec 31.
Sam Lowe, trade expert at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said: “After Brexit, the EU cannot ignore the UK’s role in its medical supply chains and the fact is the EU is still going to import a lot of medicine from the UK.”
Britain is the number one supplier of medicines to the EU by volume. UKEU trade was worth €32billion (£28.6billion) in 2018.