Pubdate: Mon, 24 Jul 2000
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Copyright: 2000 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact:  GPO Box 3771, Sydney NSW 2001
Fax: +61-(0)2-9282 3492
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Forum: http://forums.fairfax.com.au/
Author: Mark Forbes

STEROIDS FIRM CUTS OFF ILLICIT TRADERS

Exports to the world's biggest buyer of Australian steroids have been 
stopped after revelations it was supplying the international black market.

Troy Laboratories, a large manufacturer of veterinary steroids, has 
announced it will no longer sell steroids to its Mexican distributor, Denkal.

Troy's steroids were identified this month being sold to American drug 
dealers and teenagers from outlets in Tijuana. Nearly 30 per cent of 
Australia's steroid production is sent to Mexico, the centre of the illicit 
trade, with Denkal accounting for half of them.

The general manager of Troy, Mr Rene Weiss, attacked the Federal Government 
for failing to act. He said it had shown a disappointing "lack of positive 
action and initiative".

Despite calls for action from Troy, other pharmaceutical manufacturers, the 
Justice Minister, Senator Vanstone, and veterinary associations, the 
Minister for Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries, Mr Truss, is refusing to 
impose immediate restrictions on steroid exports.

He is understood to have told Senator Vanstone he would agree to export 
controls only if they did not impinge on legitimate exports.

But officials said the bulk of export sales were dubious and were 
concentrated in countries such as Mexico, Romania, the Philippines and 
Swaziland.

Senator Vanstone said she had taken the unusual step of writing to other 
ministers.

She was working with them to develop controls that "don't inhibit a 
legitimate industry unnecessarily".

Mr Truss refused to comment on the need for a crackdown on the industry, or 
why the Government's National Registration Authority grants export quality 
assurance certificates to Denkal and other dubious distributors. A 
spokesman for Mr Truss claimed it was a difficult area to regulate.

The chief executive of the Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers 
Association, Mr Alan Evans, denied it was difficult to regulate. The 
association had already told the Government that export controls on human 
steroids worked well and could be applied to veterinary steroids, which 
were often identical in composition, he said.

The executive director of the Veterinary Manufacturers and Distributors 
Association, Mr Harvey Baker, said he was concerned about the illegal, 
human use of animal steroids. Practical and effective measures to minimise 
diversion from export markets were needed.

Denkal, Troy's Mexican distributor, said it was unconcerned about sales to 
American teenagers and drug dealers in Tijuana. This was allowed under 
Mexican regulations.

Mr Weiss said: "Because of the Mexican distributor's inability to influence 
the sale and promotion of our products, we have now stopped the supply of 
steroids to them." It was a voluntary step.

A second manufacturer whose steroids were being sold on the Mexican black 
market, Jurox, has also vowed to halt sales that may be being diverted to 
human use.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D