The Ayurveda, Siddha & Unani (ASU) drug manufacturers' long standing demand seeking exemption of Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM) units from Weights & Measures Rules, which mandates strict labelling provisions, has been summarily rejected by the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry.

As per the amended Standards of Weights & Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules 1977, it is mandatory for the ASU manufacturers to mention on the medicine label, details like the name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, if available, of the person who can be contacted in case of consumer's complaint.

Ever since the ministry amended the Standards of Weights & Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules 1977 way back in the year 2007 to include ASU products under its ambit, the ASU drug manufacturers have been on warpath demanding the government to treat the ASU industry on par with the allopathic medicines on the packaging issue by exempting them from the amendments.

In fact, ASU drug manufacturers had received the Ayush department's support in its fight against the consumer affairs ministry and the Ayush department had written a letter to the consumer affairs ministry asking it to treat the ASU industry on par with the allopathic medicines on this issue.

As the issue hot up, the consumer affairs ministry had set up an inter-ministerial group to rationalize the labelling requirements on packaged commodities under different laws. After several rounds of meetings, the group failed to come up with a solution to the issue. In its report in December, 2008, the inter-ministerial group said that this issue has to be considered separately.

However, the consumer affairs ministry has agreed to constitute a standing committee to harmonise the labelling requirements on packages under different laws. The committee will have representatives from concerned ministries, besides trade and industry associations.

The amendments to this Rules 1977, brought out by the consumer affairs ministry, has put the ASU drug manufacturers in the country in a precarious situation as re-training and informing over 9400 manufacturers and thousands of products and packs are proving to be an arduous task. However, the ministry had exempted the allopathic medicines from the purview of this amendment.