Pharma Exports To Miss USD 22 Billion Target Due To Lockdown: Official

Pharma exports from India maywitness a dip in growth due to ongoing lockdown and also export restrictions imposed on certain drugs,Official of Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council, a body under theMinistry of Commerce which earlier estimated that exports maycross USD 22 billion in FY 20 has said.

Udaya Bhaskar, director general ofPharmexcil saidpharma exports were pegged at USD 19.14 billion during thelast fiscal.

He also said the global situation of coronavirusspread became unpredictable with each country imposing certaintailor-made restrictions.

He said the exports in March 2019 alone stood at USD2.1 billion which prompted the exports estimation to be peggedat USD 22 billion for the FY20.

The exports were at USD 17.28 billion during 2017-18.

India restricted exports of Paracetamol andHydroxychloroquine, among some other drugs to other countriesin view of their perceived role in Covid-19 treatment.

“As far as exports are concerned, since there areseveral restrictions, we may cross last years figure. Lastyear we did USD 19.14 billion worth of pharma exports. ByFebruary ending this year we achieved USD 18.74 billion.Even if there is a big dip in March, the figure may cross last(fiscal) year’s mark,” the official told ”.

According to him, India started getting some ActivePharmaceutical Ingredients (API) from China though it is stillbecoming difficult for the bulk drug to reach itsdestinations.

He said as of now there is no difficulty in gettingAPI imports.

The exports’ promotion body recently wrote a letter tothe Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) highlighting someof the problems being faced by the exporters with regard togetting the license for Restricted Export Item (Non SCOMET)for the listed products.

The body said member-exporters are having a commitmentthrough Irrevocable Commercial Letter of Credit (ICLC) beforethe date of imposition of restriction.

And there “undue delays in issue of licenses”resulting in huge penalties for delayed supplies, loss oftrust andcredibility, demurrages for the shipments lying inports and ultimately making them in a disadvantageous positionof losing their valued importers, it told DGFT.

“We therefore request you (DGFT) to issue thelicense/NOC for our member exporters on fast track mode toenable them to export the listed products which are oftherapeutic use in the symptomatic treatment of COVID-19,” theletter said.

The pharmexcil also requested the DGFT to exempt EOU(Export Oriented Units) from getting NOCs to export.

An earlier notification by the DGFT exempted unitslocated in SEZs and under Advance Licensing Scheme from theexport restrictions.

According to industry sources, Paracetamol,Hydroxychloroquine and other drugs which were put underrestriction for exports constitute about USD 600 million perannum in overall pharma exports.

A pharma expert opined the export restriction by Indiawhich is regarded as “pharmacy of the world”, on export ofsome of the drugs is not justified as the whole world isfighting united against coronavirus spread.

–Business Insider