The government has been coming under fire from the Pakistan Chemist and Druggist Association (PCDA) about the infrastructure cess that has been collected on pharmaceutical imports by the Excise, Taxation & Narcotics Control Department of Sindh. The association has claimed that this levy is lethal for the stock of life-saving medicines in the country of Pakistan.
Addressing a press conference on behalf of PCDA, Abdul Samad Budhani said the cess had a tremendous impact on the import of basic medicines used in crucial areas such as cardiology, oncology, neurology nephrology, and others. Because most of these medicines are not produced locally, their import is crucial to the promotion of health. However, due to the increase in costs associated with infrastructure cess, many companies have had to stop importing these products, which are very vital for the treatment of patients.
To this, Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, Senior Vice President of the FPCCI, wrote a letter to the Sindh Excise Department arguing that SDIC 2017 imposes heavy burdens on the businesses in the province and requested a reconsideration of the regulations. He said the high costs have made the importation of medicines non-profitable hence straining the supply of essential drugs.
Magoon went on to clarify that the issue was brought in a petition way back in February 2024 but to this date has not been addressed. Given the fact that the availability of imported medicine has already declined, the FPCCI has sought a hearing with the representatives of PCDA to come up with a plan to counter the problem.
This call has been made more so due to other challenges affecting the pharmaceutical sector such as a disrupted supply chain and increased costs of production so adjustments on levies need to be made for the continuance of the sector. The association is now waiting for the response to expect some positive outcome for a quick solution to avoid a health crisis.