UK's OFT makes opium recommendations

The UK's Office of Fair Trading has raised new concerns about the supply and distribution of opium derivatives within the country in a review of undertakings given by pharmaceutical supplier MacFarlan Smith..

In a report published March 7, the OFT recommends that the government reconsiders the way that it licenses opium derivatives, and says it cannot rule out a market investigation reference to the Competition Commission if the restriction to competition remain unchecked.

Opium derivatives are used in the manufacture of a wide range of medicines including over-the-counter painkillers and cough medicines.There has been a substantial growth in both the use and production of these products over the past few years, and the current value of the UK market for the sales of opium derivatives is just over L31.0 million ($54.3 million) a year. The OFT estimates that the detriment to consumers arising from present licensing policy is approximately L3.0 million a year.