India defers FTA talks with EU over ban of 700 drugs
Objecting to the ban of around 700 pharma products by the European
Union (EU) last month, India on Wednesday said that it has called off a
scheduled meeting of chief negotiators of the two sides on the proposed
free trade agreement.
The meeting on the proposed Broad-based Investment and Trade
Agreement (BITA), which was scheduled for August 28, has been deferred
as “the government is disappointed and concerned by the action of the EU
in imposing legally-binding ban on the sale of around 700 pharma
products clinically tested by GVK Biosciences, Hyderabad”. A statement
from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said the government has
engaged on the issue with various EU regulators over the past eight
months.
Pointing out that most of the drugs banned by the EU are already in
the market for many years “without any adverse pharmaco-vigilance report
from any member state”, the ministry said that the pharmaceutical
industry is one of the flagship sectors of India which has developed its
reputation through strong research and safety protocols over the years.
“And therefore government will examine all options in this regard,” the
statement added.
Earlier in June commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman had
met her EU counterpart, trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström, on the
sidelines of an informal meeting of trade ministers in Paris and the two
sides had agreed to revive talks at chief negotiators’ level. When
contacted, PV Appaji, director general of industry body Pharmexcil
refused to comment on the impact of the ban order on the Indian pharma
industry. However, earlier Pharmexcil had said that the loss to be
suffered by the sector would be around $1.2 billion.
