The health ministry of India has developed a track and trace mechanism that will enable consumers to check the authenticity of a drug with the help of the internet.
The move comes after allegations from some international markets that spurious medicines were entering their markets from India, reports The Times of India.
Following this, the government had made it mandatory for all pharmaceuticals export consignments to have bar- coding for secondary and tertiary packaging, under which, every manufacturer's unique barcode will be on the primary, secondary and tertiary packs of medicines.
Consumers buying drugs from retail pharmacy stores will be able to check the source of the product's manufacturing, whether it is an approved drug, its expiry date and price fixed by the government with the help of the code.
Aim is to ensure regulation and monitoring of the INR 89000crore pharmaceutical market of India.
Although a date for launching the product has not been finalised yet, Union health minister J P Nadda said that companies would be given the time needed to transition to the new packaging system. The transition will be mandatory for all drug manufacturers.
The Times of India quoted Nadda as saying: "Rules for implementing the Track and Trace mechanism will be framed and will be operationalized after allowing a reasonable period for transition."
Indian is a leading exporter of low cost generic medicines to many countries including the US and Europe.
