Tweaks in quality norms will drive the pharma product exports higher: DGFT

More pharm products can be brought under mandatory quality improvement norms if needed to comply with global standards for export from India if health ministry issues an advice, top official said

More pharmaceutical products can be brought under mandatory quality improvement norms if needed to comply with global standards for export from India if the health ministry issues an advice in this regard, a top official said on Tuesday.

Director General Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said all pharmaceutical products must meet global standards and quality requirements.

His remarks come a day after the Directorate General of Foreign Trade in a notification said cough syrup exporters will have to undertake testing of their products at specified government laboratories from June 1 before getting permission for the outbound shipments.

The direction came in the wake of quality concerns raised globally for cough syrups exported by Indian firms.

"This is a continuous effort which has been started with cough syrup. It is our endeavour that any cough syrup exported from India must meet minimum benchmark requirement of quality standards. Therefore they will be exported after being tested in specified labs," Sarangi said at an event.

"As per CDSCO's (Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation) advice, whatever needs to be done for quality improvement in pharma will be done," he added.

Asked whether other pharmaceutical products will be brought under similar quality improvement norms for export from India, he said, as per CDSCO and the health ministry's advice, wherever there is a need of more stringent global benchmarking for pharma products, it will be done.

The export of cough syrup shall be permitted to be exported subject to export samples being tested and production of certificate of analysis issued by any of the laboratories with effect from June 1, 2023, the DGFT said in a notification on Monday.

The specified central government labs include Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, regional drug testing lab (RDTL - Chandigarh), central drugs lab (CDL - Kolkata), central drug testing lab (CDTL - Chennai Hyderabad, Mumbai), RDTL (Guwahati), and NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) accredited drug testing labs of state governments.