The small scale pharma industry has slammed the recommendations of the task force by the commerce ministry on increasing export of pharma products, saying that it would only create non-tariff trade barriers further for the SME units. On the other hand, they have called for some export oriented measures by the government directly to ease formalities and boost exports.

They have also claimed that the recommendations, that the pharmaceutical department wants to implement, were finalized without consulting the small and medium players who need the help most to survive in the present circumstances. In a detailed representation to the DoP, SME Pharma Industries Confederation (SPIC) said non-tariff barriers were in place at the bureaucratic levels in all the concerned departments and it should be changed first to augment the exports. The task force has submitted many recommendations including venture capital funding, but only few direct steps by the government.

"An export order is obtained with great difficulty and export should be considered as a national pride rather than a tool to extract bribes by raising non-tariff issues for harassment of the exporter. There is an urgent need to write SOP and guidelines in export procedures and the same should be put on the website of the department concerned," SPIC vice chairman Lalit Kumar Jain said at a recent meeting by the Pharma Department on the recommendations of the task force.

"The bill of entries for export has to be submitted at port offices by 2 pm on working days while for import it is 12:30pm. The custom offices usually delay bill of entries and as a result, the bills are dealt by the port offices of the DGCI only the next day causing further delay. Clearance formalities for exports from reputed manufacturers should be done online two days prior to physical clearance to avoid delays and the practice of ordering the presence of manufacturer on flimsy grounds should be curtailed. The clearance system of Thailand, Malaysia and Europe should be referred to by the task force," the SPIC said.

It also called for using online clearance in more areas like CoPP and inspection by revenue authorities. The association also urged the government to subsidise the cost of impurity standards procured from regulatory authorities abroad to help small scale pharma manufacturers.

"Make registration process for imports of drugs and medicines stringent and expensive as being done by China, Canada etc. No drug should be registered on strength of documents, but only after inspection by Indian regulatory authorities in the interest of the public health, safety and efficacy," the representation said.