The Transnistrian Parliament adopted a bill which provides for legal punishments for those that will distribute counterfeit medicines, Info-Prim Neo’s correspondent in Transnistria informs. The counterfeit medicine-related cases will be investigated by prosecution bodies. Fines and imprisonment of up to three years with the seizure of goods are stipulated for the production, transportation and sale of counterfeit medications. As from July 1, the pharmaceutical products sold on the Transnistrian market will have to be accompanied by special stickers with all the information about the given preparations on them. Consequently, the prices of medicines will rise by about 0.20 Transnistrian rubles or 0.25 Moldovan lei. A Center for the Control of Pharmaceutical Products was set up to combat the counterfeiting of medicines in Transnistria. The Center’s director Nicolai Zelenin said that the expensive medicines and those that are in demand are most often counterfeited, but there are exemptions. A large batch of widely used analgesics that did not meet many of the standards was recently seized. In 2007, the regulating authorities withdrew from circulation 56 types of medicines that did not meet the standards or had the shelf life expired. Some 99% of the pharmaceutical products in Transnistria are imported.