The central government has decided to have a ceiling of Rs 10 lakh on the proposed reimbursement of product registration fees that are being borne by Indian drug companies in export markets. The government will also limit the reimbursement scheme to five registrations per exporter, it is learnt. The office of Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is in the process of coming out with a notification in this effect.

According to sources, there are not less than 2,000 registrations happening in a year. With the registration fees in foreign countries varying from US $ 5,000 to 13,000, companies had been spending a good amount on product registration.

It is known that CIS countries charge USD 5,500 for registering a single product in their region. Similarly, the rate of EU countries per product is USD 3,000. The case with Latin American Countries cannot be generalized as it is product specific. Depending upon the country, the rate can be anything between USD 3,000 to USD 18,000. In USA it is USD 5,500 per product. The registration fee charged by African countries is USD 5,000 per product.

Pharmabiz had last week reported the government's plans to introduce partial reimbursement scheme for products registered abroad. The incentive was first announced in the Exim Policy statement in 2002. Drug exports from the country touched Rs 10,000 crore during the current year.