LAHORE-The Pakistan pharmaceutical industry currently meets 95% of the country’s medicine requirements and country only imports 5 percent medicine based on new molecules and compounds and new research-based products. The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has allowed the import of finished products from China and India which is disastrous for the local pharmaceutical industry. These views were expressed by Senior Vice Chairman of Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) Nadeem Zafar during a meeting with President Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry Kashif Anwar, Senior Vice President Zafar Mahmood Chaudhry and Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt here at LCCI on Monday. President, Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, PPMA Vice Chairman Saleem Iqbal, Aamir Saleem Butt, Haseeb Khan and others also spoke on this occasion. Even though Pakistani drugs have a higher acceptance rate than India’s, Nadeem Zafar stated that up to 90 percent of the pharmaceuticals that the European Union imports come from India. In addition, 80 percent of Indian companies have received FDA approval, and FDA has even opened an office there. He went on to say that only effective policies can save this industry because its export potential is unmatched by any other industry. He continued by saying that Pakistan, which is Afghanistan’s neighbor, has the ability and potential to export drugs to Afghanistan while pharmaceuticals are 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 govt, which allowed Indian firms to export goods to Afghanistan in large quantities.
Additionally, he said that a 1 percent tax has been imposed on the import of raw materials and that an additional 1 percent tax is being extracted from the pharmaceutical industry in the form of sales tax, both of which need to be rectified and eliminated. He claimed that although pharmacists are in charge of the quality and efficacy of the medication and DRAP files a FIR on the Chief Executive in the event of any error, doing so in this situation would not be suitable.
President Lahore Chamber Kashif Anwar said that Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association is a very strong association of Pakistan and its role in policy making is very important. Lahore Chamber will raise its voice at all levels and forums for PPMA, said Kashif Anwar adding that a liaison committee of Lahore Chamber and PPMA will be formed and the voice of the pharmaceutical industry will be raised through consultation with the association.
FPCCI President Irfan Iqbal Shaikh said on this occasion that we had a meeting with European Union parliamentarians in Islamabad in which they said that we are re-involving Pakistan in GSP plus status from 2024 to 2034 which is crucial for the country’s export industry. He said that the parliamentarians also said that Pakistan can increase export of its pharmaceutical products to the European markets many times which were being imported from India earlier.