The following points should be taken into consideration:

- The costs of performing simple and other tests for the detection of counterfeits should be weighed against the larger costs of drug injury, ineffective therapy and possible patient deaths.

- Guidelines for official organoleptic detection procedures should be widely available to all relevant persons. Pharmaceutical manufacturers should be encouraged to collaborate with national DRAs in the provision of information and appropriate materials dealing with the physical attributes of their products.

- All available technical documents should be translated into the official/national language(s).

- Consideration should be given to the application of rapid quantification procedures when counterfeit products have been positively identified.

- The type of systems to be used should be carefully considered before anyone is selected for training in counterfeit testing. Some methods, e.g. high-performance TLC, are sophisticated and have proved too difficult for less qualified personnel in previous training programmes.