By MARK FORBES
Saturday 8 July 2000

Australia has become a leading supplier to the multi-million-dollar world steroid black market as a result of lax Federal Government export controls.

This revelation comes despite the government's calls for an international crackdown on the use and trafficking of steroids, with penalties akin to narcotics offences.

Official records obtained by Insight show that more than a quarter of Australian-made steroids are exported to Mexico, the centre of the black-market trade.

Steroids are certified for export to Mexico by the Federal Government's National Registration Authority. The certificates guarantee the quality of steroids sent around the world.

Officials involved in monitoring the industry confirm that the bulk of the more than 70,000 vials of steroids exported each year go to the illicit trade. They also say that some steroids marked for export never leave Australia, but are diverted to the local black market.

New South Wales chief pharmacist Dr John Lumby, who oversees the bulk of Australia's steroid manufacture, agreed that the list of destinations detailed by The Age was damning. There were "significant doubts" about many of those places.

The adoption of proper export controls would significantly cut exports, Dr Lumby said.

Keith Moyle, manager of the Victorian Health Department's drugs unit, also sees evidence of the illegal diversion of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. He advocates placing steroids under the same of controls as narcotics, with strict quotas on production and limits on international trade.

Insight has travelled to Mexico, bought Australian steroids and witnessed them being sold in bulk to American drug dealers and teenagers. The drugs bought were identical to those that former champion discus thrower Werner Reiterer this week confessed to taking.

They were imported by the world's biggest buyer of Australian steroids, Denkal Mexicana, which receives nearly 15per cent of total production. It is supplied by Sydney firm Troy Laboratories.

"We all know there are some products that go to the wrong people," said Troy's general manager, Rene Weiss. "The industry is aware, really the relevant authorities should do something about it. We sell in good faith, but some people abuse the system."

Australian steroids are also available on the Internet, on which websites such as Mexican Anabolic Steroids promote products made in Australia.

Australian steroids are made for veterinary use, but are highly sought after by athletes and bodybuilders for their quality.

Australia's top export destinations for steroids include Mexico, the Philippines, Chile, Romania and Swaziland, all centres for black-market steroid dealing. Most Internet sites offering illicit drugs are based in Mexico and Romania.

Overseas sales are not regulated and are made to several companies with no apparent link to the veterinary industry. Buyers include Abated Secretarial Services in Mexico, Korea's One Trading Company, Pacific Trading in Vietnam and Malaysia's Sam Derby Marketing.

The Commonwealth last year made steroids a prohibited import and imposed trafficking penalties on a par with some narcotics offences. It has also backed the formation of the World Anti-Doping Agency and launched a Tough on Drugs in Sport policy.

Despite the concerns about steroid abuse, the National Registration Authority routinely issues certificates to export steroids to countries where the illicit trade is rampant.

The authority's manager of registration, Peter Raphael, said the certificates were issued to facilitate exports, not to control them.

"We would issue that certificate to anybody if they have a registered product in Australia," he said. "There is no judgment exercised on our part. We simply give certificates that state the facts."

Any exports of human steroids are tightly regulated and require a permit. However, exactly the same chemical, marked for veterinary use, requires no permit or permission to export.

Justice Minister Amanda Vanstone referred questions on steroids to Sports Minister Jackie Kelly. Ms Kelly's office referred queries to the Australian Sports Drug Agency.

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.

The Age

quote:

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Originally posted by bigdog23:
...Is Ttokkyo brand Mexican made? or is it shipped from Australia? If it is Mexican made then it will be the only brand of Winny avaliable south of the border...

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Ttokkyo makes their product in Mexico but imports some of the bulk raw material from China...So whatever happens in Australia has no effect on Ttokkyo.