India asks China to hasten clearance for its pharma exports

India today asked China to expedite clearance for its pharmaceutical companies to gain access to this country's huge market, saying that such a move would also greatly benefit the Chinese people who would be able to
buy comparatively affordable drugs.

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is on a four-day visit to China, met his counterpart Chen Zhu here and sought his intervention to expedite clearance for Indian pharmaceutical companies.
He told Chen that the entry of Indian pharmaceuticals to this country's market would also greatly benefit Chinese people as India produces comparatively affordable drugs.
Though it is a trade issue, Azad urged the Chinese Health Ministry to get involved to expedite the registration process, which is a long drawn out one deterring the Indian companies from entering the lucrative Chinese market in a big way.
The two ministers exchanged views on public screening for major illnesses like diabetes and cancer, officials said. India has identified pharmaceuticals along with IT as a major area of opportunity to push its exports to China to reduce the growing trade imbalance between the two countries.
Though trade last year reached a record USD 61 billion, much of it was in China's favour. A big opening up on IT and pharma fields could help India to catch up, Indian Ambassador to China S Jaishankar, who was present during Azad's talks with Chen, said. Azad, who arrived here on July 10 to take part in the BRICS Health Ministers meeting which concluded yesterday, also participated in the World Population Day meeting at Tianjin city.
Earlier, Azad met his Brazilian counterpart Alexandre Padilha, who appreciated India's contribution in supplying HIV medicines to combat AIDS in his country.
He also expressed interest in Indian traditional medicines, Azad told the Indian media here. Azad said Ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, China
and South Africa (BRICS) reacted positively to his speech at the Health Ministers' meet during which he cautioned against moves to enforce Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) with the proposed anti-counterfeiting task force (ACTA) saying trade barriers should not prevent "equitable and affordable" public health services.
Over a period of time multi-nationals realised that countries like India were making affordable medicines and they were now trying to bring in "ifs and buts," he said. "That is why they want to bring TRIPS (trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights) plus and data exclusive. These issues were not discussed at the time of finalising TRIPS. These are after thoughts," Azad said. 
On the controversy over his recent remarks on gay sex, he said his comments on HIV were twisted and misinterpreted. "Some activists thought I was referring to homosexuals and gays. The disease I meant was HIV," he said.