November 21, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 15, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: The government through an ordinance has amended the Drugs Act of 1976 by including a condition under which only those drugs can be imported to Pakistan which are on sale in the markets of western Europe, US, Japan and Australia.

Earlier drugs were not allowed to be imported or exported without a licence issued under the act or by an agency of the government.

The amendment also includes insertion of a new section, 9A, in the act that deals with the appeals to the provincial appellate authority.

Under the new section any person aggrieved by any decision of the licensing authority may prefer appeal to the provincial appellate authority, to be constituted by the provincial government for the disposal of appeals.

Earlier, under section 9, the federal government, had to constitute an appellate board for the disposal of appeals preferred by the aggrieved persons against the decision of the central licensing/registration board or the licensing authority empowered by the federal government under section 12.

Similarly, new clauses have been added in section 11(5) of the act under which powers and functions of the provincial quality control board have been enhanced.

Now, the provincial quality control board will have the powers to inspect any premises of a firm where any drug is being or is to be manufactured or sold and will recommend to the higher authority to cancel or suspend the licence of manufacture or selling of drugs granted to a person found violating any of the provisions of this act or the rules.

The board will scrutinize the reports of provincial inspectors and the government analysts in respect of drugs sent to them by the provincial inspectors for test and analysis and issue instructions to the inspectors to the action to be taken on such reports.

The board may specify the class of cases in which a provincial inspector may make a complaint to the drug court, or take any other action, without the specific instructions of the board.

The provincial board will exercise all the powers of an inspector and advise the provincial government on ways to ensure quality control of drugs manufactured in the province.

Now five more sub-sections have been added namely section 11 (5-e) to ascertain the names of such directors, corporation, firm or institution who are prima facie responsible for any offence under this act or the rules and allow an inspector to institute prosecution only against such persons.

Earlier, the manufacturers were held guilty for such offence.

The board will conduct annual validation of all instruments in the provincial drug testing laboratories and recommend measures to upgrade such laboratories if required, identify and accredit on payment of fee to other laboratories in the province with suitable facilities and expertise, to conduct training programmes, to update government analysts and for improving their knowledge according to latest analytical method and technology and to submit a monthly report of decisions and activities to the federal government.

A new section, called 11A with a headline conflict of interest, has also been added which requires that no person who is a member of the appellate board, central licensing board, a provincial quality board, the registration board or a member of expert committee shall be a member of any other board or committee of which he is a member to avoid conflict of interest.

Similarly through another amendment in section 18 sub- section (a) a new proviso has been added after which this sub- section will read that a drug inspector can seize drug and all materials used in the manufacture or articles including registers, cash memos, invoices and bills, which he has reason to believe may furnish evidence of the commission of an offence punishable under this act; provided that where the contravention is such which can be remedied, the stocks shall not be seized on undertaking in writing of the person not to sell drug without remedying the defect, under intimation to the board concerned.