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The drugs control administration (DCA) in West Bengal is implementing ‘Good Purchasing Practices’ (GPP) among the pharmaceutical traders as guiding rules and standards to ensure purchase of genuine products through proper distribution channels and to establish ethical dealings in pharma trade.
The initiative aims to encourage pharma wholesalers and retailers to purchase medicines from authentic sources that support traceability to the original manufacturers.
The director of the drugs control administration, UR Ismail, has issued one circular to the pharma traders in this regard, which advises them to maintain authenticity in the daily purchase of medicinal products from manufacturers or through CFAs. The circular specifies that the regulatory step is to encounter the problem of sale of counterfeit and spurious drugs in West Bengal.
According to sources from the department, this is part of the continuation of steps being taken by the government to cleanse the drug market which was till recently flooded with counterfeit and spurious drugs imported from neighbouring states.
The department focuses on six main instructions to the traders, both wholesalers and retailers. The wholesalers should mandatorily check the QR codes of the 300 top-selling brands that were included into the Schedule H2 by the Government of India in August 2023 to prevent entry of counterfeit drugs to the market. Similarly, the same check has to be done by retailers before they purchase these scheduled brands from the wholesalers.
The wholesalers need to ascertain that they purchase medicines only through proper distribution channels starting from the CFA of the original company. The department hopes that this will ensure maintenance of quality and genuineness of the medicines they supply to the retailers for sale to the public. By guaranteeing the integrity and safety of the medicines, the department can address the issue of counterfeit products.
Further, the wholesalers should check the validity of the licences of the sellers (marketers or manufacturers) through online licence portals of different states. This copy of the licence should be produced before the regulatory authorities for verification. The department is often conducting verifications of products purchased from other states.
Another mandatory method directed by the department to find out the authenticity of the suppliers is that while making payments to wholesalers located in other states, the drug dealers in West Bengal must check their bank account details and ensure their authenticity. Along with, they must check the GST number and confirm whether the supplying company is taking credit for the GST.
The department has issued the circular to all trade bodies and wanted them to strictly comply with the instructions.
When Pharmabiz contacted a leading association, Pharmaceutical Traders Welfare Association of Bengal (PTAB), its secretary Pranab Kumar Chakraborty said these instructions are only an eye-wash, the government is doing nothing to eradicate the counterfeit drugs from the market. When asked what is the situation at present in the drug market, he said, “same as before”.
Chakraborty is unhappy as his association was not listed by the director’s office for sending the circular.
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