The newly approved sub zonal office in Goa which is under the West Zone of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) will be operational for exports from October 2. This was stated by Mara Pandiyan, chairman of Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) and Dr Ramakrishna, deputy DCGI of West Zone, in a high level meeting held on September 10 at the Mormugao Port premises.


With this the Mormugao Port will be open for the pharma exports making it one of the seven ports in the country apart from Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Cochin, Nhava Sheva and Kandla. The DCGI recently approved Goa as a recognised port for import and export of drugs under Rule 43 A of the Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Rules, 1945.


Arun Naik, president, Goa Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (GPMA), informed that along with initiating exports, the sub-zonal office at MPT premises will also reduce the burden of the exporters in other ways as well. He said that with the office functioning as a sub zonal office, the exporters will be able to get the WHO-GMP certification including CoPP issued from the sub-zonal office at the MPT premises itself rather than getting it issued from Mumbai.


At present the pharma exporters from Goa have to travel all the way to Mumbai to get this certification done but with the office within the premises the process becomes more easy and time saving.


According to Naik, “We have been expecting this from some time now and we are extremely happy with this development as it will save a lot of money and time of the pharma exporters from the state.”


He pointed out that as of now the pharma exporters from the state spends almost Rs.30,000 to 40,000 per container to be transported to the Mumbai or Nhava Sheva port for exports. But now with the start of exports from MPT the state exporters would not be burdened with this additional expenses.


“Moreover, there have been increasing concerns among the exporters from Goa on the rise in the congestion at the Nhava Sheva Port, leading to lot of problems for the exporters, which will be finally addressed now,” Naik informed.


With an aim to sensitise the exporters about this and to understand the requirements of pharma exporting companies, the MPT is organising a meeting on September 16 at the MPT premises. He said, “This meeting has two pronged aim one is to sensitise all the exporters about this and secondly to understand their needs and demands so that everyone can work together accordingly. We have requested all member companies who are exporting to send their representatives as it will help MPT to help exporters regarding any issue they might have.”


Now that the MPT has got the green signal for exports, the industry is eagerly waiting for the notification. Under the D&C Act no notification is essential or compulsory for exports but for imports the industry will have to wait till the port is officially notified in the gazette.