Name and shame medicine importers, urges Joseph Muscat

Medicine importers whose prices were abusive should be named and shamed, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

The government, he said, should ensure that consumers were protected against businessmen who raised their prices unnecessarily.

Dr Muscat, who was being interviewed by l-Orizzont acting editor Josef Caruana, said that while there were ethical medical importers, there were others who "appear to raise questions even on the quality of their goods", alluding to a recent case where directors of a company were charged with importing counterfeit pills.

Dr Muscat said it was not up to the government to create private enterprise but it had to establish a framework for regulation. "It is the private sector and not the government which propels the economy forward but the private sector has to recognise its social and ethical responsibilities".

Reacting to these comments, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Consumers and Fair Competition reiterated that the government was ready to consider drastic measures like the fixing of medicine prices, in order to protect consumers.

This was in line with its budget promise to control the prices of medicines.

The parliamentary secretariat said it was "working to bring down the prices of medicine in a way that they would not be a burden on those who need them".

In his speech, Dr Muscat also referred to the EU Programmes Agency scandal, saying that if Education Minister Dolores Cristina, who is denying responsibility, was not worthy of being trusted in this case, "how could we trust her with more important things such as educational reform?"

He also spoke about the BWSC and the Delimara power station extension, saying that when it came to corruption the government should be setting an example with the "sharks", not by having Transport Malta employees being handed a suspended six-month sentence for accepting a small bribe.

Dr Muscat said these "sharks" should be caught, and they should give back the money they had misappropriated.

The whistleblowers who reported these big businesses in corruption cases should be given an amnesty and protected.