The manufacturers and exporters of 'Lozenges Tablets' have approached the Union Finance Ministry through the Basic Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals & Cosmetics Export Promotion Council (Chemexcil) to seek inclusion of 'Lozenges' in the description of tablets covered under std.I/O norms and the relevant entries of DEPB rate list. Due to current omission of Lozenges from the description of tablets, exporters of Lozenges, which for all practical purposes are pharmaceutical formulations in the form of tabs, are unduly denied export support, affecting development of exports of such products, exporters complain.

In its remark on the exporter's plea, Chemexcil has noted, "Since Lozenges is only a type of tablet it is logically included in the existing description. The addition of lozenges to the description of this Sr.No is sought to ensure operational facilitation." The council has also pointed out that to the extent of denial of export support, the exporters need to operate with high transaction costs.

Additions to DEPB rate list also figured prominent among the demands that came from the pharma industry. It has asked for the addition of medical and herbal creams/ointments/gels/lotions and eye/ear/nasal drops in each of Sr.Nos 37,38,39,40, 41 and 42 of rate list for chemical products, by addition of two sub-entries with DEPB benefit at 5 per cent of the DEPB rate for the relevant bulk drug.

Pharmaceutical formulations in the form of medicated creams, ointments, gels, lotions, ear/eye/nasal drops constitute substantial proportion of export. However the same are not covered in any entries in the DEPB rate list and their exporters have to bear the burden of un-remitted duties, which makes exports of these products incompetitive.

Once these formulations are included in the DEPB rate list, it will simplify neutralization of duties which will reduce the transaction time and cost. In the absence of DEPB rates, exporters are compelled to get duty drawback rates fixed from time to time which is tedious and time consuming. This acts as a deterrent for export growth.

The industry also wanted the General Residual Entry to be added for bulk drugs not elsewhere specified with DEPB rate of 10 per cent.

In the field of Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, existing products are replaced by newer ones at a very brisk rate. However, the newer products, for which the need for policy support is greater, are denied the same till the procedural drill for rate fixation is complete. This situation can be remedied by making a generic entry for bulk drugs in the DEPB rate list, the council has explained.

The specific mention of British Pharmacopoea (BP 88) in some of the input norms (Sr.No- A-215, A-216, A-219, A-221) has also been flayed by the industry. They wanted the ministry to avoid mentioning any particular edition of any specific pharmacopoeal standard and instead wanted it just to be mentioned as "pharmaceopial standard".