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Afenyo Markin calls for ban on import of pharmaceutical labels
Speaking on Wednesday, he said it was time to complete the value chain by awarding the printing of drug labels to local printing firms in the country. He revealed that annually, about 100 million is spent on importation of drug labels.
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He told Accra-based Citi FM: “If the pharmaceuticals, already they have tax break on their raw materials that they import, are getting a further boost, then we should complete the value chain. That is to also ban the importation of labels because as speak, the pharmaceuticals in a year, import not less than 100 million dollars wealth of labels and other materials for packaging purposes.
“Now our local printing firms have the capacity to print these labels. Graphic, for example, I am sure has the state of the art machinery and technology to do some of these printing on large scale. Daily Guide if you go to their place they have a state of the art machinery. I am sure many other companies that are in the printing industry have what it takes to take on board the printing of the labels."
The Akufo-Addo administration on Tuesday announced the ban on the importation of 49 medicines which will now be produced by local pharmaceutical companies.
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They include aluminium hydroxide or magnesium trisilicate suspension, amoxicillin capsules and suspension, aspirin or caffeine tablet, folic acid tablet, cetirizine tablet, co-trimoxazole tablet, diclofenac tablet, magnesium trisilicate suspension and tablet and oral rehydration salt (ORS).
Others are paracetamol syrup, paracetamol tablet, paracetamol or codeine tablet, simple linctus syrup, vitamin B complex tablet and multivitamin tablets (vitamins A acetate, B1, B2, B12, D3, nicotinimie, calcium pantothenate), Ibrufen tablet and cough mixture that contains carbocisteine diphengydramine, gualfenesin or ammonium chloride as a single ingredient.
Last year, the Mahama administration excepted than 1,500 pharmaceutical products from VAT, thus giving the local manufacturers an advantage.
The local drug companies, through the Export Trade, Agricultural & Industrial Development Fund (EDAIF), were also granted about $26 million to help expand their businesses.
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