Daily Times

Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) Senior Vice Chairman Nadeem Zafar said on Monday that country’s pharmaceutical industry was fulfilling 95 per cent of its medicine requirements currently. He said that Pakistan was importing only five per cent medicines based on new molecules and compounds and new research-based products. The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had allowed the import of finished products from China and India, which was affecting the local pharmaceutical industry, he added. The PPMA senior vice chairman met Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Kashif Anwar, Senior Vice President Zafar Mahmood Chaudhry and Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt here on Monday. Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, PPMA Vice Chairmen Saleem Iqbal, Aamir Saleem Butt, Haseeb Khan and others also spoke. Even though Pakistani drugs had higher acceptance rate than India’s, Nadeem Zafar said and added that European Union imported up to 90 per cent of its pharmaceuticals from India. In addition, 80 per cent of Indian companies had received FDA approval, and the FDA had even opened an office there. He said that only effective policies could save the industry because its export potential was unmatched by any other industry. He asserted that Pakistan, which was Afghanistan’s neighbour, had the ability and potential to export medicines to Afghanistan while pharmaceuticals were already being exported from India to Afghanistan via Pakistan. Pakistani pharmaceutical businesses were unable to even change distributors in Afghanistan due to registration restrictions imposed by the former Afghan government, which allowed Indian companies to export their goods to Afghanistan in large quantities. Additionally, he said that one per cent tax had been imposed on the import of raw materials and that an additional one per cent tax was being extracted from the pharmaceutical industry in the form of sales tax, both of which needed to be rectified and eliminated. He claimed that although pharmacists were in charge of the quality and efficacy of the medication and DRAP filed the FIR against the chief executive in the event of any error, doing so in this situation would not be suitable. Lahore Chamber President Kashif Anwar said that PPMA was a very strong association of Pakistan and its role in policy making was very important.