The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has finally issued an order notifying Mormugao port in Goa as a notified port for the purpose of import of pharma products. The notification which was issued on July 17, was done after amending the rule 43-A of the Drugs & Cosmetics (D&C) Act, to give effect to this notification which will now enable both export and import activities from the state.

This notification comes almost an year after the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI)  approved Goa to have a recognised port for import and export of drugs. The much anticipated notification comes as a huge relief to all the drug manufacturers from the state who are at present exporting and importing their pharma products from other far away destination like Mumbai and Nhava Sheva, which is both time consuming and a costly affair.

Earlier, even though MPT was approved by the government as a port, lack of notification had lead to only export activities to be done from the state. A K Burman, president, Goa Pharmaceutical Manufacturer's Association (GPMA) informed that the industry is very happy with this new development as it will give a fresh leash of hope to all the exporters and importers from the state.

He stressed, “Even though we had the approval for exports there was hardly any export activities undertaken from MPT, as most of the companies still continued dong business from the earlier ports. One of their common reasoning was that since they already have an office in Mumbai which they anyway had to continue operating for the purpose of import it was only an additional burden for them to maintain one separately in Goa for exports. With this approval in line, we hope that this confusion will be dealt with, and  since the government has done its part it is now the responsibility of the industry to utilise the benefit appropriately.”

He further urged all the stakeholders to take initiative to start both export and import activities from Goa so that both the state as well as the companies will be able to benefit from this unique opportunity.

At present, Mormugao port is used only for exports, as it does not require notification, whereas, imports from the MPT port was stuck in a logjam due to the delay in notifying the port. Arun Naik, immediate past president of GPMA, pointed out that now with the official notification of MPT in place it will pave the way for imports of pharma raw materials required by the pharma industry of Goa and surrounding areas through Mormugao.

He further pointed out that with the start of imports, more vessels will come to Mormugao port which will further boost the exports of pharma as well. To further sensitise the issue and encourage the use of the port for business, the MPT chairman Mara Pandiya is soon planning to meet GPMA members and other stakeholders from the state.