Seizure of drugs cases: India plans to drag EU to WTO independent of Brazil

NEW DELHI: India is planning to drag the European Union to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) independently of Brazil, despite claims made by the EU that it was changing its customs regulations to prevent seizure of drugs exported by India while in transit to third countries like Brazil and Nigeria.

The change in legislation proposed by the EU was minimal and would not address the problem of the “illegal” seizures, said a commerce department official. “We had thought of filing a dispute together with Brazil but as the clearance procedures in Brazil take long, we may go alone,” he said.

In the past year, European customs authorities have seized 18 drug consignments of Indian companies, including that of Dr Reddy's, Cipla and Lupin, being exported mainly to Africa and Latin America, following complaints from pharmaceutical companies holding patents to those medicines in Europe but not in India.

India had argued that these seizures violated the Trips agreement as the medicines being exported were off-patent in the country of manufacture and export.

"We are committed that what had happened the year-and-a half ago doesn't happen again," ambassador of the EU delegation to India Danielle Smadja told reporters here, adding that to make it sure that it doesn’t happen again, the EU was even changing one of its (internal) regulation in order to make sure that there is no confusion in the mind of the customs.

Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma had said last week that the government would examine if the proposed changes the EU customs regulations was enough to ensure that there would be no seizures of consignments again.