The third Annual Conference of the Consortium of Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Marketers Association (CIPMMA) has urged its members to market and sell, henceforth, quality products of certified and genuine manufacturers and call back the drugs from the retailers and wholesalers’ shops as soon as they complete their shelf lives.

A resolution to this effect was adopted at the annual conference of the association held in Madurai on Saturday, May 1. All the members have been advised to follow this principle and anybody who violates this rule, will be prosecuted as per organization’s by-laws, said A Kannan, secretary of CIPMMA.

Earlier, the association had assured the government that, in future, they would be more meticulous in all the dealings and be careful while marketing drugs of all the companies. In effect, with the resolution, CIPMMA was reinforcing its earlier stand.

No other pharmaceutical organization in Tamil Nadu has taken such a concrete decision with regard to the quality of products without compromising the norms of Drugs & Cosmetics Act.

The decision of the association assumes importance in the wake of the recent expired drug recycling by a drug racket in the state. The Association will submit the copy of the resolution to the government later expressing solidarity with the initiatives taken by the health department to streamline the pharma market.

Regarding membership with CIPY, the Association has deleted the item from the agenda of the meeting as it was deferred for a future date following the advice of CIPY’s chairman, J Jaishankar.

The Annual meeting was attended by 200 people representing various marketing companies from Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. V Manohar, Superintend of Police, Madurai, has inaugurated the function. V Muthu, Chairman of Idhayam Group made the key note address. A souvenir of CIPMMA was also released in the function.

In another resolution, the marketers have urged the government to establish a Pharma Park in Madurai to help the manufacturers of southern districts of the state. They demanded that the government should take steps to set up a Special Economic Zone area somewhere in Madurai district to boost the pharma manufacturing industries of the southern region. Kannan said more than twenty manufacturing companies are currently working in Madurai and nearby districts.

When contacted the Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (MADITSSIA), its president, N Somusundaram said MADITSSIA had earlier requested the Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers M K Azhagiri to take necessary steps to expedite the project of Pharma Park in the Special Economic Zone area at Nanguneri in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu. He said the officials of central government have recently visited the site and the project is now under pipeline. According to people in the industry, if the park comes in Tirunelveli, it would help the manufacturers of Madurai also.

Association has passed one more resolution demanding setting up of a Testing and Analytical Lab in Madurai for the convenience of the manufacturers of southern Tamil Nadu. Presently all the manufacturers are depending on the government laboratory in Chennai. For ISM, there is separate laboratory working with the state Ayush Department.

The former vice-president of the association, A Karunai Kadal, managing director of Beline Pharmaceuticals, Thanjavur, has been made the chairman of CIPMMA.

The president, P R Revishankar of Kinesis Pharmaceuticals was unable to attend the conference. In place of him, the general body has elected S Nagaraju of Acumen Pharmaceuticals as the president of the Association for a period of three years.

The general body has unanimously re-elected A Kannan, MD of Hextar Pharma, to the secretary’s post. S Panneer Selvam of Inbris Lab, Trichy is the new Treasurer. There are four vice-presidents and four joint secretaries to look after the affairs of four zonal committees of the association.