Islamabad, May 10 (ANI): Pakistan's local pharmaceutical industry has demanded the government to allow only those imports from India, which are approved by the international drug regularity bodies.
The local pharmaceutical industry fears devastating consequences as Pakistan has agreed to give India most-favoured nation (MFN) status, under which the Indian pharmaceutical industry will be allowed to export their products to Pakistan by next year, reports The Nation.
The Chairman of Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association (PPMA) Muhammad Asad said the local industry is not against the import of medicines from India but only those medicines should be imported that are not manufactured locally and are approved by the European Union and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of USA.
Asad, quoting a World Health Organisation report, said majority of medicines manufactured in India are not up to international standards and 60 per cent of total counterfeit drugs used in the world are manufactured in India.
He said the local industry has improved a lot in the last 30 years, without any government support, adding that even though 95 percent medicines used in the country are of national companies, the local industry cannot compete with the Indian pharmaceutical industry of 40,000 companies.
Asad further said the cost of production of medicines in Pakistan increases 40 to 50 times more than India, as only 10 percent of the raw material is available in Pakistan. (ANI)
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