breaking news India mandates quality control of cough syrup formulations before export

India has made it mandatory for cough syrup manufacturers to have samples tested and approved by a government-certified laboratory from June 1, 2023 before they are allowed to be sent abroad. The decision to implement pre-export quality checks was introduced after Indian-made syrups were linked to dozens of deaths in The Gambia and Uzbekistan last year.

Export of “Cough Syrup” is permitted after the export sample has been tested in one of the central government designated laboratories and “a Certificate of Analysis (CoA) has been issued by one of the laboratories mentioned in the notification, as of June 1, 2023,” the Directorate General for Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification on Monday.

Specified central government laboratories include Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, Regional Drug Testing Laboratory (RDTL – Chandigarh), Central Drug Testing Laboratory (CDL – Kolkata), Central Drug Testing Laboratory (CDTL – Chennai Hyderabad , Mumbai), RDTL (Guwahati)]and the NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) state government accredited drug testing laboratories.