The Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) has commissioned a study on the warehousing conditions at sea ports of India with a view to analyse the current standards and to create a cold chain culture in India to overcome the new challenges faced by pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies.

According to informed sources, there is a need to develop a better cargo handling standards and cost-effective warehousing system in India for the effective storage of complex pharma products.

The study has been submitted to Pharmexcil and it is under its active consideration. Once that is reviewed by the Council, it would be put up for discussion for the commerce department. The aim of the study is to push for policy initiatives that would help in understanding the drawbacks in the current system and finding all possible ways to upgrade the present warehousing conditions of the ports. It is expected that the suggestions of the study could lead to framing of some concrete policies by the government.

An expert who is involved in the study of the warehousing conditions of ports informs that there are at present twelve DCGI notified ports in India that are allowed to handle pharma products of which very few are actually operational. Conditions of all the existing cargo handling ports are of very low unsatisafactory and need urgent upgradation, he said.

He said that the international regulatory practices and standards around the world put pressure on right storage conditions and transportation of pharma products. If pharma products are exposed to extreme conditions that can affect the quality of the drugs and shelf lives. Thus it becomes very important to adhere to proper warehousing norms.

At present the warehousing conditions are not as required and there severe disconnect between the demand and supply. Indian pharma companies have to deal with large quantity of exports, imports and thus have a huge warehousing requirements, wherein the consignments need to be properly stored and moved. According to the report, pharma companies have to face a lot of challenges due to unsuitable warehousing facilities and lack warehousing at key locations.