Must test cough syrups before exporting, says govt

Exporters are mandated to get their cough syrup products tested in government laboratories from June 1 before sending them abroad. The export of cough syrup will be allowed only after the sample of the exported product is tested in the laboratory.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said that export of cough syrup will be allowed only after the sample of the exported product is tested in the laboratory.

All Indian cough syrup exporters will be required to get their products tested from June 1 in prescribed government laboratories before sending them abroad.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification issued on Monday that the export of cough syrup will be allowed only after the sample of the exported product is tested in the laboratory.

Earlier, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the apex drug regulatory authority, proposed testing the drugs (finished products) at government labs before exporting, official sources told news agency PTI.

According to the proposal, exporters will have to produce the certificate of analysis of the batches issued by authorised laboratories, after which only the DGFT will clear the release of the consignment for export.

The analysis of the sample from the export consignment is proposed to be tested at Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, CDSCO labs namely, RDTL (Chandigarh), CDL (Kolkata), CDTI (Chennai), CDTI (Hyderabad), CDTL (Mumbai), RDTI. (Guwahati)) and NABL-accredited drug testing labs of state governments.

In the last eight months, questions have been raised over the quality of drugs manufactured by India-based companies.

In February, the Tamil Nadu-based Global Pharma Healthcare recalled its entire lot of eye drops allegedly linked to vision loss in the US.

Before that, India-made cough syrups were allegedly linked to the deaths of 66 and 18 children in the Gambia and Uzbekistan, respectively, last year.