Cough Syrup Export Policy Amended; Govt Lab Clearance Mandatory

New Delhi: Government of India on Tuesday amended the export policy related to cough syrups with the new rule that export consignments would be cleared subject to mandatory certification only by government-certified labs.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Commerce issued a notification on the amendment saying “cough syrups will be permitted for exports subject to the export sample being tested and production of a certificate of analysis by any of the following labs: Central Drug Laboratory Kolkata, Central Drug Testing Labs, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Regional Drug Testing labs at Chandigarh and Guwahati or any of the NABL accredited state drug testing labs.”

In the recent past, there were allegations of deaths in some countries after consumption of Indian cough syrups. The recent amendment follows the global alerts on Indian cough syrups exported to other countries. In October 2022, WHO issued a medical alert involving cough syrups from Sonepat-based Maidan Pharma flagging alleged links to over 70 Gambian child deaths. Later on 18 children died in Uzbekistan after consuming cough syrup manufactured by Noida-based Marion Biotech. In April 2023, WHO issued another alert involving cough syrups made in Punjab and Haryana.