India trade curbs ‘do not apply to DRAP-regulated therapeutic products’

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce has declared that restrictions on trade with India do not apply to therapeutic products regulated by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), including pharmaceutical raw material and finished therapeutic products.

The clarification, issued via an official memorandum on May 5, confirms that despite a war-like situation following the Pahalgam incident, Pakistani pharmaceutical companies can still import Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), vaccines, anti-cancer drugs, and other life-saving biological products from India.

The Ministry of Commerce’s decision to reiterate the exemption provided under SRO 977(I)/2019, which was issued in September 2019, has come as a relief to the pharmaceutical sector facing growing uncertainty after customs officials recently halted several shipments of Indian origin medicines and raw materials.

The document, addressed to the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA), asserts that the restriction on trade with India as per the Import Policy Order does not apply to therapeutic goods overseen by DRAP.

An official from the Ministry of Commerce, speaking to The News, confirmed the clarification was necessary as the customs authorities had begun detaining consignments of APIs and finished goods from India despite the continued validity of the 2019 exemption. “We issued the office memorandum to ensure that there is no ambiguity regarding pharmaceutical trade with India. SRO 977 is still intact, and therapeutic products can be legally imported from India,” the official confirmed.

PPMA Chairman Tauqeer ul Haq also confirmed that the trade of pharmaceutical ingredients and finished medicines from India had not been suspended, despite the rising hostility. “We met the Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan last week after customs began detaining shipments of APIs and other critical medicines from India. The finance ministry has now ordered customs to release the detained consignments since no formal directive had been issued to stop the trade,” he said.

However, Tauqeer ul Haq admitted that confusion persists on both sides of the border. “Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers are ready to dispatch the goods, but shipping companies are hesitant due to the escalating tension between the two countries. We are hopeful the situation will normalise in a few days and pharmaceutical trade will resume smoothly.”

Despite a decline in the share of Indian pharmaceutical imports to Pakistan—from 38 percent in previous years to 23 percent in 2024 -- Pakistan’s drug industry still heavily depends on Indian APIs and finished products. This includes essential items such as anti-rabies vaccines, anti-snake venom sera, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) drugs, anti-cancer treatments, and other biological products that are either not manufactured in Pakistan or are too costly to produce locally.

Last week, several manufacturers warned that even a brief disruption in the supply chain could jeopardise the availability of essential drugs across Pakistan.