PHARMA LITERATI

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has extended Foreign Trade Policy by a year till March 31, 2021 following several representations from various export promotion bodies in the country including Pharmexcil in the wake of 21-day lockdown announced by the government to contain the spread of coronavirus. The existing foreign trade policy 2015-2020 which is valid upto March 31, 2020 is extended upto March 31, 2021, stated a notification issued by the DGFT. Besides this, the validity of other import linked export schemes including Duty Free Import Authorisation (DFIA) and Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) have also been extended for a year till March 31, 2021, stated the notification. EPCG scheme enables an importer to import capital goods used in the production of goods meant for export at zero rates of customs duty while DFIA is issued to allow duty free import of inputs. However, for all DFIAs (including transferable DFIAs), where the validity for impor...

The Indian government will soon come up with a new pharma policy to counter the excessive controls thwarting competitiveness and innovation in the sector. According to a posting by Brand India Pharma, an initiative led by Pharmexcil (Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council) and IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation), the policy could include significant and important features including the following: • Disbanding of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) in its current form, delinking price control of essential medicines. Prices could be regulated only in case when required thereby leading to more flexibility. • Licenses of periodic renewal would also be scrapped for manufacturing and sale of drugs and would be given till perpetuity. • The Health Ministry would also work on a process of third party certification and self certification on an annual basis. All the above measures would essentially lead to improved ease of doing business and help in realizing...

Apex pharma exports body Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) is in talks with the Union government to secure manufacturing of top 100 drugs, many of which are are being imported from China. Apex pharma exports body Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India ( Pharmexcil ) is in talks with the Union government to secure manufacturing of top 100 drugs, many of which are are being imported from China. " We have requested the government to take steps to facilitate manufacturing of top 100 products that are being imported from China. Currently, we import over $3 billion worthof pharma products from China ," Pharmexcil chairman and Aurobindo Pharma director M Madan Mohan Reddy said. He said a major challenge in securing manufacturing of these drugs in India is that Chinese manufacturers operate on a larger scale, which makes them more viable. Speaking about other challenges, he said that the Indian pharma industry is reeling under a ...

Mumbai-based businessmen, Purushottam Agrawal (Founder and Vice-Chirman) and Madhusudan Agrawal (Co-founder) of Ajanta Pharma Ltd, were felicitated by the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) as part of the ‘ Pharma CEOs Conclave’ . Anice Joseph Chandra, Director, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India gave away the honour to the company during ‘12th Annual Meet’ of Pharmexcil. Ajanta Pharma Ltd ., which started operations in 1973 with re-packing of generic products, is one of the leading producers of branded generics and speciality drugs with a turnover of Rs 1,728 crores in the 2015-16. Speaking on the occasion, Purushottam said, “ The Indian Pharma industry’s exports are growing by leaps and bounds and in the coming years, it may become one of the top markets in the world. At this point, being recognised for our work is both an honour and a privilege .” Source: http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Health/2016-09-2...