Indian pharma exporters have requested Saudi Arabia to ease its medicine import norms to help boost the trade prospects between both countries in this segment. The exporting community complained about the time-consuming registration process and wanted to cut down the time factor to facilitate easy exports.

The pharma exporters were expressing their views at a recent interactive meeting between the Saudi officials and their Indian counterparts, organized by the Federation of Indian Exporters (FIEO) in Delhi. Import requirements in Saudi stipulates that the pharmaceutical products that need to be imported to the country should have been registered and marketed in at least three West European or American countries before. The condition has compelled many exporters to stay away from the supply of drugs to the potential Saudi market.

Responding to the views expressed by the exporters, Saudi officials assured that the import norms can be reviewed if there are genuine problems. They said that the there is no discrimination against India and the import rules are uniform for all the countries.

The External Affairs Ministry officials who were part of the meeting were at pains to explain the acceptability of Indian pharma products in the developed world. They said that there is no need for any fear as Indian pharma products are accepted in the US, Europe and Japan which insist on high standards. India has the largest number of pharmaceutical plants approved by the FDA outside the US. The officials felt that, given the global acceptability of Indian pharma products, the Saudi Arabian authorities would facilitate their entry into the Saudi market.

FIEO had organised the interactive meeting between business leaders of Indian and Saudi Arabia in a bid to boost bilateral trade.