ISLAMABAD: The representative bodies of local and multinational pharmaceutical companies have appreciated the proposed customs duty exemption for critical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which can contribute to greater affordability and availability of life-saving treatments.

Thanking Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb for listening to industry, they have given the assurance that the relief will be translated into greater investment, affordability for patients and export growth for Pakistan.

However, to compete with the rest of the world, they also suggested stable and predictable policy environment, including sustainable medicine pricing mechanisms.

Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) Chairman (North) Usman Shaukat, while talking to Dawn, welcomed the abolition of customs duty on over 100 raw materials used in the production of cancer and other life-saving medicines.

“It will lower production costs, improve patient access to essential treatments, and strengthen local manufacturing capacity. Taken together with the broader tariff rationalisation under the National Tariff Policy 2025-30, these measures signal that the government views pharma not just as a healthcare sector but as a high-value export industry,” he said.

Mr Shaukat said that PPMA was ready to translate the relief into greater investment and export growth for Pakistan.

Pharma Bureau’s Executive Director Ayesha T. Haq also welcomed the government’s proposed duty rationalisation measures.

“These reforms represent a positive step towards improving patient access to essential and innovative medicines, strengthening healthcare supply chains, and encouraging continued investment in Pakistan’s healthcare sector. We particularly appreciate the proposed customs duty exemption for critical oncology APIs, which can contribute to greater affordability and availability of life-saving treatments,” she said.

However, she expressed concerns over proposals in the Finance Bill which will directly impact the cost of medicines such as the increase in tax on distributors as it will be passed on to the patient.

“The allocation of public money to health continues to remain extremely low. Poverty rates are on the rise and the alarming figures on stunted growth and infant mortality are a direct consequence of not prioritising the health sector,” Ms Haq said.

“For the pharmaceutical sector to grow and compete with the rest of the world, what is required going forward, is a stable and predictable policy environment, including sustainable medicine pricing mechanisms.

These are critical if we are to ensure that the benefits of these and future reforms are realised by the patients,” she said.

PPMA is the representative body of local pharmaceutical producers, while Pharma Bureau represents multinational pharma companies functioning in Pakistan.

When contacted, health ministry spokesperson Sajid Shah told Dawn that for the last over two months health minister Mustafa Kamal had been making efforts to facilitate the pharma sector so that it would be translated into a relief for the masses.

“The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) and health ministry’s other ancillary departments were also engaged to ensure that country’s pharma exports would grow and contribute foreign exchange in the exchequer of Pakistan,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2026