To bring about cost-effectiveness, uniformity in pricing of packaging and help boost exports, Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) is in the process of formulating a set of uniform standards for packaging pharma products for Indian companies. Once finalized, the standards would be submitted to the commerce ministry for implementation. Currently, export of products is guided by the pharmacopoeia or standards of the importing country.
“In a recent meeting with pharma exporters, it was concluded that there is a need to have a standardization on the packaging of the drug which will bring about rationalization in terms of costs especially for blister packaging, strip packaging or packaging cartons," explains Director IIP Dr NC Saha.
"Drugs might be low cost or expensive but packaging cost can be offered uniformity with the setting of uniform standards in packaging. Besides this, the issue of simplification of bar coding in case of small, intermediate and bulk packs is also being followed as a part of the standardisation," he added.
IIP has also suggested the industry regarding printing expiry date behind each tablet in the strip pack. At present, the expiry date is printed in one corner of the strip along with the batch number and date of manufacturing. However, many patients end up tearing that part. "Once you start taking the tablets off, it is difficult to read the expiry date and batch number," Dr Saha said, adding that though there will be an increase in the printing cost but it will be a boon for the consumers.
"I have also written to the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India to implement printing of expiry date on the back of each tablet as early as possible," Saha said, citing the example of pharma major Zydus Cadila that has started printing the expiry date on each tablet for their product Inditel, a medicine prescribed for blood pressure with the objective to provide better comfort and safety measures while taking medicines.
According to experts, after the date of expiry, efficacy of any medicine is completely lost. While it is very rare that a patient would suffer from a severe side effect after popping an expired medicine, it definitely has indirect side effects.
The Indian packaging industry has less than five per cent share of the world’s $550 billion packaging industry’s share. There is enormous potential for growth paving way towards intelligent packing, active packing, functional diagnostic packing in the future, said eminent scientist Padma Vibhushan Dr RA Mashelkar, while delivering his key note speech on the occasion of unveiling of new logo of the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), designed by National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. “The ‘I’ in India has to be innovation, not imitation and not inhibition”, Dr Mashelkar added.
Unveiled by the Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao, the event also marked the celebration of 50 years of Institute’s journey. Dr N C Saha, director, IIP on the occasion said, “The logo captures the institute’s future prerogative in three important areas i.e. export promotion through the formulation of packaging standards for exportable commodities, upgradation of packaging education through the introduction of B Tech and M Tech courses in packaging technology and management. It also reflects packaging research for shelf life studies for fresh and processed food products and to develop alternative packaging materials in compliance to environmental regulations."
“IIP’s contribution to the development of a strong packaging industry has been of immense help to India’s overall exports in the last so many years ”, said Nirmala Sitharaman, minister of state for commerce and industry in a congratulatory email message.
The Institute also inaugurated an exclusive Technology Innovation Centre at the hands of Rajani Ranjan Rashmi, additional secretary, ministry of commerce and industry, Government of India at Mumbai. This centre will be dedicated to develop innovative packaging technology and also to determine the chemical constituents in plastic materials for eg: BPA in polycarbonate and phthalate in PET.
The occasion was witnessed by more than 1000 participants consisting of industry members, students’ community, IIP alumni members, academicians, employees, policy makers to make this event a memorable one.
IIP is an autonomous body in the field of packaging and working under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. The institute was established on May 14, 1966 with its headquarter and principal laboratories in Mumbai. The institute set up its first branch office at Chennai in 1971, followed by branches at Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad in 1976, 1986 and 2006, respectively.
The main objective of the institute is to promote the export market by way of innovative package design and development as well as to upgrade the overall standards of packaging in the country. The institute is involved in various activities like testing and evaluation of packaging materials and packages, consultancy services and research & development related to packaging. Besides this, the institute is involved in training and education in the field of packaging.
The Indian packaging industry has not only grown in size and volume, but also in its level of operation. In addition, globalisation has also forced the Indian packaging industry to become more competitive in the global markets and also to win major contracts abroad. Today, the Indian packaging industry is growing at an annual rate of 15 per cent as against 5-6 per cent growth of the global packaging industry. This has also created a great demand for packaging professionals by the Indian packaging industry. In fact, packaging training and education have become the ‘Need of the Hour’ in our country so as to upgrade the overall standards of packaging at the national level.