India, EU officials to meet in Sept on drug seizure issue

In an effort to resolve a dispute on seizure of Indian drugs by some European countries, officials of the European Union and the Indian government will meet again at Geneva in September, at the instance of the WTO.

"In the first round of consultations, basic information was exchanged. In the next meeting, we will try to seek the source of complaints that led to the seizure of consignments," an official said here.

India had dragged the 27-member EU to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), protesting against the confiscation of its off-patent drugs by some European countries while they were en route to export destinations in Africa and Latin America.

In accordance with a WTO rule, both the parties were asked to engage in formal bilateral consultations as part of efforts taken to resolve the problem.

If the issue still remains unresolved, it would be referred to the dispute settlement panel of the WTO.

In the last few years, customs authorities of Europe -- especially Netherlands -- had seized several drug consignments belonging to Indian companies while they were en route to their export destinations.

The Dutch authorities had alleged violation of their patent laws, even though the Indian government maintained that they were off-patent drugs.

India's $22-billion pharmaceutical industry gets 45 per cent of its revenue from the export of generic drugs.