Xing Yong: Promulgating Online Drug Purchase Regulations to Strengthen Network Sales Management

Coinciding with the “National Safety Month of Medicine”, in order to further popularize the knowledge of safe drug use by the public and guard against fraudulent sales of counterfeit drugs, Xing Yong, the deputy director of the State Food and Drug Administration's Inspection Bureau, visited Xinhuanet on the 9th to interpret the Internet drug sales policy.

[Moderator] The National Drug Administration announced early on some laws on online drug purchases and introduced them to us.

[Xing Yong] The State Food and Drug Administration attaches great importance to the management of online sales networks, mainly based on two points: To adapt to the Internet and the future development trend of the Internet, and to ensure the safety channels for the general public to purchase drugs. Second, we must clearly understand that medicines are a special commodity. The purchase of drugs on the Internet must be distinguished from any kind of commodities, and special strict and effective management must be implemented. Therefore, on this basis, in 2004, the State Drug Administration issued an information service management approach and in 2005 it promulgated provisional administrative regulations for Internet drug trading services. The promulgation of these two laws and departmental regulations is the earliest statute for our country's regulation of online information publishing and online shopping. Therefore, it has fundamentally laid the cornerstone of Internet drug trading services and online information services. Its management is at the forefront of our country. We are also fully considering the special nature of drugs as a special commodity and must be strictly managed when online. When shopping and distributing drug information are still in a budding state, the State Food and Drug Administration has strengthened management in this area. Over the years, it has been promoting and deepening management based on this idea, and has been advancing the management of drugs on the Internet. It should be said that some achievements have been made in these years.