Lack of dedicated customs facilities in Goa is posing a plethora of issues for the pharmaceutical exporters' in the region, causing inordinate delays and other related logistical issues, complains the industry.

The state, which contributes around 15 to 20 per cent of total exports business in the country, finds it difficult to meet the speedy requirements of clients, as the companies have to channel products through Mumbai or Chennai. Out of 108 odd pharma units, Goa has 28 units certified for WHO-GMP compliance with several approvals by other foreign regulatory agencies like US FDA, MCC, MHRA, PIC, TGA, etc.

With a majority of pharmaceutical units thriving in export business in the state, the manufacturers now demand steps from the central government to add the ports in Goa under Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1945 with adequate technical support for customs clearance. The central government has to amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Act to include the state also in the list of ports approved for import and exports of medicines, sources in the Goa Pharmaceutical Manufacturer's Association (GPMA) said.

"Currently, we are routing our product transactions through Mumbai and Chennai ports only, resulting in delay of service to our customers. In the time of globalisation, when everyone needs fast delivery of products, Goa is striving to meet the requirements," a GPMA source told Pharmabiz. "The government has to amend the D&C Act so as to include the provision for exports and imports of drugs from the state and the CDSCO West zone has to facilitate officials in the Goa ports to smoothen procedures," sources said.

The lack of export facilities from the state, in addition to the attractive offers from the tax haven states like Himachal Pradesh, tends the major pharmaceutical companies to shift their activities from Goa. The Goa Pharma industry, which enjoyed tax holidays, was in a nourishing stage till recently, with companies like Ranbaxy, Cadila, sanofi-aventis, Wyeth, Merck, Glenmark and Unichem establishing their facilities in the state.

As the tax holidays are over and the exports remained difficult through the ports, many of the companies are shifting their focus from Goa. The Association had submitted various representations to the concerned authorities and is planning to intensify the demand further, according to the source.

Meanwhile, the association also asked the government to reduce procedural delay in export registration processes. "The procedure for registration takes 3 to 12 months. Some of these certificates granted by the licensing authority have validity of only one year. Thus by the time such certificates are submitted to the importing country and the registration process is through, the validity of the certificate expires and the export business cannot start because of the expired certificate," revealed an industry source.

Though assured on abolition of levies such as entry tax after implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT), the state government has increased the entry tax to four percent, which is almost as much as the Central Sales Tax (CST), informed GPMA sources. The Association also demanded abolition of all levies including entry tax, Octroi, etc in the state.