DRAP slaps ‘exorbitant’ charges on pharmaceutical products

• Authority levies charges on pharmaceutical company up to 1,000 percent on the account of restructuring of drug industry 

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has slapped various new and exorbitant charges on the pharmaceutical company up to 1,000 percent on the account of restructuring of drug industry despite the fact it failed to chalk out any strategy to facilitate medicine producers.

The DRAP has introduced undue charges on the pharmaceutical companies without any justification which will hurt ultimately the exports of pharmaceutical products of the country resulting in loss of foreign exchange which is precious for the nation every time.

The authority has introduced Rs 5,000 fee on the export certificate of pharmaceutical products which was earlier zero-rated. Besides, the rebranding fee has been imposed at Rs 25,000 which was also free of cost few months ago.

In addition, the documentation requirement has been made extremely complicated for the pharmaceutical companies that will create problems for the exporters and cause delays to meet the orders to foreign countries timely, hence loss of credibility, orders and foreign exchange earnings.

The DRAP has also increased the prices of drug import license from Rs 250 to Rs 5,000 and the cost of capsule raw material have been surged to Rs 8,000 to Rs 250,000 for each companies.

Kaiser Waheed, member Central Executive Committee of and former Chairman Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) said the DRAP was not authorized body for the pharmaceutical industry but it had been working to destroy the crucial industry which saves the lives of the masses through medicines production.

He added DRAP had received Rs 400 million from pharmaceutical companies on the account of various heads in the last two months of the interim government, which was sheer injustice for the sector which produced low cost drugs for the citizens of the country.

The new charges will increase the burden of production cost over pharmaceutical producers which had been kept the medicine prices unchanged since 2001 resultantly many pharmaceutical industry have shut down their plants in last five years, PPMA leader said.

There has been no performance of DRAP witnessed by the industry stakeholders so far as the whole body has been facing a crisis situation at leadership level whereas the sub ordinates and junior staff members have nothing to do with facilitations of pharmaceuticals companies.

The DRAP has just imposed fees on the drug producers but it has done nothing to facilitate them which is their actual role to regulate the market, carry out drugs registration and revise medicine prices on the assessment of raw material, Waheed said.

Since the formation of DRAPin October 2012, the authority has been dysfunctional because the officials were reluctant to perform their duties, however, the masses were facing hardship on the shortage of medicines and availability of counterfeit drugs at retail level.

Waheed urged the new government that it should take immediate action and bring reforms including transparency and competency in the authority through honest and qualified staff.