The Madras High Court today stayed a directive of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to stop state-level drug authorities from issuing export clearances for medicines.
India exports Rs 40,000 crore of medicines yearly. The order was on a petition from the Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Officers Association (TNDCOA). The order is applicable across the country, Dileep Kumar, secretary TNDCOA said.
The office of the DCGI had on September 1 issued a directive preventing all state-level export approvals from October 1. State drug officials had alleged the move had no legal basis, as the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, which governs the functions of the DCGI, has no mention of exports. Domestic pharmaceutical companies had also opposed the move, as they felt centralisation of export approvals would delay clearances.
The DCGI move was seen as an attempt to control the quality of medicines exported. The move was triggered by increasing instances of complaints from several nations in this regard.
Though India was projected as a source of counterfeit medicines, investigations had found there were other sources like China from where medicines were exported on Made-In-India labels.
