New Delhi
The Government on Saturday put an end to a free-for-all in production and sale of Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy formulations and drugs by bringing them under the Drugs & Cosmetic Rules of 1945 and setting up the Pharmacopoeia Commission of Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy at Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh near Delhi as also a central drug laboratory to clear such formulations.
The draft rules for the purpose are published in an extraordinary Gazette, inviting objections and suggestions within 30 days to the Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Ayush Bhawan, INA, New Delhi 110023.
The Commission will develop and amend standards of Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs and publish pharmacopoeial monographs, formularies and standardised procedures. Its laboratory shall be the central drug laboratory for testing and analysing the Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs sent to it under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940.
The gazette notification set up a scientific advisory board for the commission for a term of three years, with a retired scientific expert of drugs to be nominated as its chairman with ten members and discretion to the chairman to co-opt two experts.
It mandates all manufacturers to send samples of their drugs and formulations for testing and analysis and get them certified before marketing. The lab has to certify the sample is of standard quality as defined under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act 1940 and Rules. The notification prescribes different fees to be paid to the lab, saying the sample testing charges will be revised by the director of the Pharmacopoeia Commission or by the lab analyst, in consultation with the AYUSH Ministry.
