The commerce ministry is setting up a monitoring committee with officials drawn from various bodies, including the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and Indian Pharmacopeia , to ensure the quality of pharmaceutical exports. The move comes in the wake of recent suspension of tenders awarded to Indian companies for supply of drugs by Sri Lankan government.
The ministry would also be asking the countries to appoint one of the recognised drug testing laboratories of their choice working in India to verify the quality of the drugs at shipping stage in addition to the standard protocols followed by the DCGI for clearing the export consignments.
Such steps are essential to maintain the credibility of Indian pharma products in the global market as the government is making efforts to increase pharma exports, said PV Appaji, executive director of Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil), explaining the measures proposed last week during a meeting with a Sri Lankan minister on the issue. Pharmexcil is the nodal agency under the commerce ministry.
At present, Nigeria, one of the key importers of Indian drugs from African continent, is already getting all its consignments tested through a laboratory in India before giving clearance for import. “Shortly, we will write to the embassies of other developing countries to follow similar model by roping in one of the 24 recognised drug testing laboratories available in India to make sure the quality pharma products they import,” he said.
Ranked 18 in terms of volume of pharma exports from the country, Sri Lanka imports 90 per cent of generic drugs and other pharmaceutical products from India. It had recently cancelled the tenders awarded to ten Indian pharmaceutical companies for not meeting he quality standards.
