US health regulator rejected 12k products since Jan 2011: Sitharaman

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has refused entry of 12,012 Indian products, including drugs, into the American market between January 2011 and March 2016 for various reasons, including adulteration and misbranding, Parliament was informed on Monday.

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman informed about this in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The reasons given for the refusal include misbranding, adulteration, packaging, labelling, pesticides, unapproved products and the like, she added.

On various measures being taken by the government to improve the quality of products, Sitharaman said, “... the steps include tightening labelling rules and making it mandatory for companies to clearly mention the dates of manufacturing, best-before use and expiry dates and improving pre-export inspection”.

Other steps include greater emphasis on standards through sensitisation of exporters for compliance of regulatory issues through export promotion agencies and taking up the issues at bilateral trade forums, whenever appropriate, she said.