The U.S. Trade Representative’s annual “notorious markets” report reveals that nearly 96% of the world’s 35,000 online pharmacies operate illegally, putting consumers at risk of receiving unsafe or ineffective medications.
The report highlights that many of these pharmacies function without proper licensing, prescriptions, or safety measures. Additionally, it identified around three dozen online retailers, primarily based in China and other parts of Asia, accused of selling counterfeit products and engaging in illegal activities. Concerns were also raised about 19 countries linked to counterfeit and pirated goods.
A report released on Wednesday claims that their websites appear to be legitimate e-commerce platforms and falsely claim approval by the Food and Drug Administration. Both the FDA and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued warnings regarding the dangers of purchasing prescription drugs from such sources.
The article cites an Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies Global Foundation study. One in four Americans who have used online pharmacies report encountering substandard or harmful medications.
Federal prosecutors announced Monday that they reported last year about a network that sold counterfeit drugs through fake online pharmacies. The indictments said that the drug dealers had sold millions of counterfeit tablets.
The report didn’t include any statistics about how many people were killed or injured.
USTR Annual Report gives examples of illegal online pharmacies in the United States. The report warns of the dangers of imported ingredients like fentanyl.
The “Notorious Markets List”, however, praised the progress made by fighting counterfeit and pirated products.
In Hanoi, Vietnam, U.S. officials, industry groups, and the police worked together to shut down Fmovies and other sites related to piracy between July and August this year.
The report states that the largest site for pirated films in the world attracted more than 6,7 billion visits between January 2023 to June 2024.
Two Vietnamese individuals were found guilty of operating the BestBuy IPTV platform for pirated television. They were also ordered to forfeit their property, and pay fines.
The report cited Brazil’s crackdown against online piracy, and the United Kingdom busting fake clothing and purses in Kuwait.
However, problems remain with cyberlockers that thwart efforts to restrict piracy of movies and other content and of so-called “bulletproof” internet service providers, or ISPs, that promise people using them leeway for using pirate sites, it said.
Avito is an ISP based in Russia that allows sellers to advertise allegedly counterfeit products.
Baidu’s cloud storage service, Baidu Wangpan is now available in English. Some have accused it of not protecting copyright and of acting too slowly.
The article also mentioned the social-commerce platforms Pinduoduo, and Douyin Mall – a Chinese market owned by ByteDance (the owner of Tiktok). Although the platforms had tried to improve their protection, many counterfeit products were still being sold.
The report states that Shopee, an online and mobile platform in Singapore, has better results than other platforms at combating piracy.
IndiaMART is a marketplace for business-to-business transactions in India that still sells many fake products.
The report shows that while most intellectual property theft now takes place online, counterfeit products can still be found in real-world locations. These include markets in Turkey, bazaars, and shopping malls in the United Arab Emirates, as well as the Saigon Square Shopping Mall located in Ho Chi Minh City.
Reports indicate that the MBK Center Mall in Bangkok, which has 2,000 shops, is cracking down on fake goods. Despite this, the products are still sold at the mall.
