The Ministry of Commerce and Industry will go ahead
with the proposal for 2D bar-coding and a unique ‘randomly generated
numeric code’ on packets of medicine destined for export, a senior
official said.
According to P.V. Appaji, the
executive director of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council
(Pharmexcil, the ministry has set March 31 as the date for receiving
objections and suggestions from the Pharma industry, which is opposing
the move.
“The government will go ahead with
implementation of the bar coding. However, the ministry has asked the
industry to come out with their problems before March 31. Bar coding is
fixed and the government will implement it as per schedule,” Mr. Appaji
said.
The Commerce Ministry had recently made it
mandatory for all medicines manufactured and exported out of the country
to have a barcode from July 1.
Department of
Commerce Additional Secretary Rajeev Kher held a meeting on March 10
with the representatives of pharmaceutical companies Torrent, Lupin and
Fortis India, along with officials of Pharmexcil, sources said.
The
Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has made it mandatory for
drug-makers to print a barcode on every product exported out of the
country in the wake of overseas allegations that some local firms ship
out counterfeit medicines.
Exports of pharmaceuticals
from India stood at Rs. 40,000 crore last fiscal and are expected to
witness a growth of 20 per cent this year.
The industry is opposing the move, saying it would incur an additional cost on the bar-coding procedure.
Any value edition to the product would affect pricing, said an official of city-based Natco Pharma.
“As
it is, we have been facing serious competition from China on all
fronts. Barcoding needs additional investment on manpower as well as
machinery and thus puts pressure on pricing,” Natco Pharma Company
Secretary and General Manager M. Adinarayana said.
Mr.
Appaji said as per government estimates, bar-coding would cost 30 paisa
per strip. “Putting barcode on primary packing is difficult and
expensive, but secondary and outer layer of the export package will be
acceptable for the industry,” he said.
The Drug
Controller General of India (DCGI) recently indicated that it would make
it mandatory for medicines intended for domestic supply to also bear
barcodes. However, the government is yet to come out with an order in
this regard.
