Pharmaceutical industry opposes MFN status for India

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Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association of Pakistan (PPMA) expressed grave concern over the government’s seeming insistence on granting MFN status to India without taking into account the valid concerns of the domestic pharmaceutical industry.
The industry fears that in the absence of appropriate measures, the government’s move to grant MFN status to India will severely hit the local pharmaceutical industry, potentially inundate the market with spurious imported drugs, and render thousands of technical and non-technical and industry-related people jobless in the industry.
In such a situation, the pharmaceutical manufacturers would be forced to close down their units or move to other countries, which would be another loss of investment following the large-scale relocation of textiles to Bangladesh, fear domestic manufacturers.
Political attempts to normalise trade relations with neighbouring India are being appreciated widely, but the people of each country expect their governments to proceed with normalisation in a way that protects and benefits its own national interests. The domestic pharmaceutical industry has been trying to get its views heard at policy echelons but without much success. Reacting strongly to recent reports in the press suggesting that the Ministry of Commerce had informed the cabinet that PPMA had no issues with granting of MFN to India, PPMA officials clarified that the industry strongly opposed the move unless its concerns were properly addressed and due priority given to the Pakistani over Indian pharmaceutical industry. Similarly, the industry in India benefits from several subsidies and incentives, including SEZ status, which gives the industry preferential access to electricity and gas at tax-free rates. In contrast, the industry in Pakistan currently has almost no access to utilities, preferential or otherwise. India also employs several non-tariff barriers to imports into its market which must be countered first and a level playing field created before opening up our markets.

5 COMMENTS

  1. Phamaceutical Industry in Pakistan is among the top most blood suckers of Poor Coomunities in Pakistan. Its good to allow Indian medicine to reduce the miseries of Poor Pakistanis.

  2. … Indian medicines … ? … Can't be called medicines … More appropriately, Indian Poison … Poor quality and dangerous …

    • What is poison to you is treatment for many countries.Many patients of Africa suffering from AIDS rely on drugs from India and UN/WHO support this programme.No problems if Pakistan does not want it. There is big world out there and you only have to meet their needs.

  3. Pakistani pharmaceuticals groups are acting like biggest health threat for Pakistanis in coming days.Influx of irregular medicines, excess of different formulas without having its proper research in Pakistan, they are importing the raw material and bribing hospitals and doctors to sell their products to poor and ignorant patients.As they themselves are smuggling their drugs to Afghanistan on prices which are 4 to 6 time more than normal price creating fake kind of shortage for local patient.Thyroxin, ativan, carbonzole,valium .. along list of medicines which are all time short in major markets as these groups are selling to another routes for maximum profits.
    India has 3 times cheaper market but no body knows its effectiveness to patient.So people should be ready for new kind of hazard experiments on them planning by our health ministry.

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