Industry News: From February 2019,the European Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) 2011/62/EU will be mandatory for the Pharmaceutical Industry within the EU making Tamper Evident Labeling an obvious choice

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Tamper-evident labels are a powerful deterrent to theft and relabeling. They are based on destructible and ultra-destructible papers and films that are destroyed when an attempt is made to remove them. Anti-tamper labels help secure the authenticity of products as they can be printed with identification numbers or other critical information such as warranty numbers and expiry dates. They are also often used as package seals as they are impossible to transfer to other packages.

From February 2019, all pharmaceutical packaging of prescription medicines in the EU must include a tamper-evident closure as a security feature. This is stipulated by the EU Directive 2011/62/EU adopted in 2011. In order to continue to use the existing folding boxes, the use of sealing labels is of particular interest in terms of cost-effectiveness. These labels firmly connect the insertable tags to the body of the package. The most practical labels from an economic and technical point of view are completely conventional rectangular or round labels. These labels may even include a security perforation. The essential factor for their use is the pressure-sensitive adhesive. It must be highly resistant to water, hot air and various solvents. This is the only way to guarantee that the label cannot be peeled off even heavily coated folding boxes without visibly destroying either the label or the box. The same type of sealing label can therefore be used for a variety of packaging materials and for a variety of surfaces – even hot melt-sealed boxes can be protected against tampering using this method.

The use of tamper-evident labels requires a high degree of precision. This is because the labels, which are usually very small, must be applied laterally to the insert-able tags in such a way that around 50 percent of the label protrudes above and below the body of the folding box.

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