Centre withdraws UPA’s Drug Bill

The government on Wed-nesday decided to withdraw a UPA Bill from Parliament which was tabled with an aim to strengthen the drug regulatory system.

The Cabinet decided to withdraw the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2013, which had been introduced in the Rajya Sabha. A Standing Committee of Parliam-ent had made a number of recommendations for changing the provisions of the Bill. “We are working in a comprehensive law and hence we had to withdraw the Bill tabled earlier in the Parliam-ent,” an official said.

The regulatory framework for ensuring quality, safety and efficacy of medical products including medicines, medical devices, in-vitro medical devices, stem cells, regenerative medicines, clinical trials was provided for in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

“Keeping in view the role of the sector in managing public health, the Union Cabinet has decided that it will not be appropriate to carry out further amendments in the present Act especially as newer areas of biological, stem cells and regenerative medicines, medical devices and clinical trial or investigation cannot be effectively regulated under the existing law,” an official statement said.

Keeping in view the objective of ‘make in India’, it has now been decided to comprehensively review the existing law with two objectives — to facilitate the ease of doing business and substantially enhan-ce the quality and efficacy of our products, it said.

India is one of the largest manufacturers of pharmaceutical products in the world with the annual production valued at over Rs 2 lakh crore.