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SCMP Reporter

Half of outlets selling imitations of genuine medicines, maker says

About half of the 3,000 outlets where packaged Chinese remedies were available offered counterfeits or 'imitation' products with packages bearing extreme likeness to long-standing brands, a manufacturer said yesterday.

It was also estimated that  20 per cent of all Chinese remedy brands were being copied to various degrees, said Coty Liu Wai-keung, chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Patent Medicine  Manufacturers' Association.

These imitation products were not considered fake by law but their confusing appearances could be difficult for consumers - especially tourists from the mainland - to distinguish, he said.

The warning came ahead of the Labour Day 'golden week' holiday starting next Tuesday - a period when mainland tourists are expected to flock to Hong Kong.

Mainland tourists' confidence in  Hong Kong has been shaken after a CCTV report exposed local jewellery shops selling fake products.

The exposure has sparked  debates on how to fight fake items.

Lin Tian Maw, managing director of Tai San Enterprise, which makes fish-liver oil and heart tonic, said fake and  imitation products were prevalent in Hong Kong, with at least half of the stores   selling  them.

'Tourists were brought to these stores by  guides,' he said.

'They thought they were buying products of a brand but they were given another which looked very much alike.'

Stephen Gan Fock-wai, chief executive of White Flower, said at least five to six brands imitating the package of their herbal oil were on  sale.

He said his business was brought down by 10 to 15 per cent last year, but the core issue was not about money.

'The matter is not about business,' Mr Gan said. 'It is the public's health that  is put at stake as there is no way to ensure these imitation remedies are produced in a hygienic environment.'

But the consumer council's chief executive Connie Lau Yin-hing disagreed on an escalating prevalence of fake or  imitation products, saying that  complaints had remained at a low level.

She said 29 complaints - mainly from customers not buying the packaged Chinese remedy brands they had wanted - were received in the past three months. Last year there were 38.

Mr Liu said a free inquiry hotline would be available from next Tuesday to May 14 for consumers who want to find out more on brand distinction.

The number for the brand hotline is 2545 1331.

The president of the Practising Pharmacists Association, Billy Chung Wing-ming, said it was not a secret that many outlets were offering fake and  imitation Chinese remedies.

'It takes the government more than four years to register packaged Chinese remedies and the process is extremely slow,' he said. 'While the authorities can prosecute unregistered western medicine brands, it  is still not possible for Chinese remedies. The delay has deprived the authentic, often long-standing, brands of  protection.'

Consumer complaints

The number of complaints received by the Consumer Council about misleadingly packaged Chinese medicine in the past three months 29



Fakes flood city's Chinese drug market