Scary stories ...

Tempers flare. Inconsistent prices, but also scary stories are circulating.

It is grey or it is  black, but in any case, it is never all white as appropriately described by some.

It would escape all control and endanger our crops, or even our health.

Of course, illegal traffic of PPP is a reality. Nevertheless, are we really completely at its mercy?

Parallel traders, must be able to give written commitment that their products meet the conditions of approval supporting the parallel trade permit.

You may request from your supplier evidence of effective traceability.

Favour PPP that are presented in their original packaging, not repackaged, but simply over-labelled with the English text. Take exceptionally good deals from trusted sources only.

At night all cats are grey, yet …

According to Europol, counterfeit pesticides are now at the heart of well-organized trafficking. This illegal market would represent 5-10% of the European market, which amounts to about $ 10 billion per year ... 

Illegal products can be dangerous to handle, damage crop or harm the environment, they can further generate residues in the food chain. They jeopardise risk mitigation policies that are implemented. As for the State, they can cause losses of tax revenue.

As a matter of fact, the low margin generated by licit parallel trade, and the regulatory constraints to which it submits itself, make it the first victim of illegal trafficking, whether the latter is resulting from infringement or non-compliance with regulations.

Maintain a credible alternative !

The professional parallel importer unrelated to the manufacturer and the holder of the marketing authorization of the reference product in the United Kingdom, acts independently from the latter’s distribution network. He offers real competition, albeit limited in price or volume, yet credible and perfectly legal.
 

All too often parallel trade is perceived as corrupt and mercantile, unfairly predatory and harmful to the research capacity of innovative firms. The truth is that through its systematic screening of new specialties and its market positioning, parallel trade is not only the watchdog of price and competition, it could also win its titles of nobility for holding the key to achieving, finally, the harmonisation of the EU single market for PPP.

Nothing can indeed justify that farmers in different Member States of the EU cannot have access to the same PPP in terms of efficiency, safety, environmental protection and cost.