ISLAMABAD, June 18: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has introduced exorbitant charges on pharmaceutical companies on account of restructuring the drug industry, which would result in increased prices of medicines.

The authority has introduced a fee of Rs5,000 on the export certificate of pharmaceutical products, which had earlier been zero-rated. Furthermore, a branding fee of Rs25,000 has also been imposed, which used to be free of cost.

This was stated by Kaiser Waheed, member of the Central Executive Committee and the former chairman of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA).

He said the DRAP had not proved to be a competent body for the pharmaceutical industry and had been working to destroy the crucial industry which saved the lives of the masses.

“In addition, the documentation requirement has been made complicated for pharmaceutical companies, which would create problems for exporters and cause delays in meeting orders of foreign countries. We would lose credibility, orders and foreign exchange as a result,” he said.

Mr Waheed said the DRAP had also increased the price of drug import license from Rs250 to Rs5,000 and the cost of capsule raw material had surged from Rs8,000 to Rs250,000.

He added that the authority had received Rs400 million from pharmaceutical companies in the last two months of the interim government, which was sheer injustice for the sector which produced low cost drugs for the citizens.

He added that many pharmaceutical industries had shut down their plant in past five years due to this injustice.

Mr Waheed said the new charges would increase the production cost of pharmaceutical companies which had kept medicine prices unchanged since 2001. He urged the new government to take immediate action and bring reforms including transparency and competency in the drug regulatory authority.