The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission has sternly warned against distributing and possessing pirated copies of the Indian Pharmacopoeia 2007, which will be made effective from July 1.

In consultation with the health ministry and other law enforcing agencies, the IPC has put up elaborate arrangements to curb piracy of the standard setting document across the country. Stern action will be taken against those selling and using the pirated copies, IPC sources said.

The drug controllers in the States and trade bodies have been alerted about it and special teams were being made to mount sudden raids to confiscate the pirated copies. ``It is a legal document and piracy of the same is a crime and will invite punitive actions. Informers about the sale and possession of pirated copies will also be rewarded,'' sources said.

On its part, the IPC had devised individual number on each set of the IP along with an authenticity certificate and holograms to check piracy, in view of past experiences when a large number of pirated copies of earlier editions hit the market.

IP, published in three volumes with over 1600 monographs and marked with many unique features, were being sold directly from the IPC secretariat (www.ipc.gov.in ), and also through distributors. Pharma Book Syndicate at Hyderabad (040-23445666), Educational Book Centre in Mumbai (022-25603324) and Educational Book Agency (India) in Delhi (011-23842077) have been identified as distributors.

Following request from the stake-holders, the IPC had deferred the implementation of the document by three months till July 1. The IP released in December was expected to be made effective from April 1 as per the original schedule. The IPC sources also claimed that the sale of document was moving good and hoped that every stakeholder would have a copy of it in time. Already 40-50 per cent of industry has adopted the new document and the standards were being followed. IPC had also written to all State drug controllers to make it mandatory for the drug manufacturers from July.