Indian Drugs Manufacturing Association (IDMA) and All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) have taken an initiative to form a task force to address all pharmaceutical industry-related issues.

To begin with, a 10-member committee would be formed with three members each from IDMA, AIOCD and OPPI, and one member from the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) who would be addressing a variety of issues and even take up newer cases of concern to the industry.

The need for forming such a committee was felt at a recent meeting held at the office of IDMA wherein members recommended the need to appoint a select group of members to take important decisions related to trade and industry. "With just 10 members who would be involved in decision making, we would be clearing up a number of backlog cases and which would also enable us to take up more new cases regularly," said Yogin Majmudar, president of IDMA.

The government's recent proposal to implement excise duty on MRP would be one of the issues to be taken up immediately by the task force. And the long-standing dispute between the industry and trade bodies regarding the MoU will be considered.

"Infact, we are in the final stage of drafting a letter to the government, expressing our unhappiness over the issue and warning of the consequences of the move on the consumers," said Dara Patel, secretary general of IDMA.