India to crack down on fake Chinese drugs

The government is in pursuit of a racket that smuggles large quantities of spurious drugs from China into India in large quantities and then exported to African countries like Nigeria with 'made in India' labels.

According to reports, the government has decided to crackdown on importers who are using forged documents and other means to sneak these fake drugs, originating in different parts of China, in and out of India. The government estimates fake drugs getting into the country every year to be in the range of Rs15,000-17,500 crore.

Recently, Nigerian authorities had intercepted a consignment of fake drugs supposed to have been marketed from India. However, a probe showed that the medicines had been manufactured in China and imported through India.

China itself has admitted that its pharmaceutical companies were involved in shipping fake drugs to Nigeria with fake Indian labels. "The Chinese authorities have accepted this position (that its firms were involved in the case)," The Times of India quoted an unnamed official as saying.

"The Indian government took up the matter with the Nigerian authorities and on further probe, it was found that the drugs had actually originated in China and not in India," he added.

In June, Nigeria's drug regulatory authority, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, had reported the detention of a large consignment of fake anti-malarial generic pharmaceuticals labelled as India made, which were actually produced in China.

Following the incident, India took up the issue with China. Though China assured investigations in the matter, Indian authorities were not given any time frame.