Drug firms have to affix barcodes at tertiary level packaging

Pharma firms will have to affix barcodes on consignments of all tertiary level packaging, such as cartons, following a government order.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said that drugs manufactured on or after October 1 will have to mandatorily carry the barcodes.

A barcode helps in tracking and tracing of origin of drugs, which in turn helps in minimising the chances of genuine drugs being considered spurious, sub-standard or counterfeit.

The government had asked pharmaceutical companies to build track and trace capability for their exported medicines using barcode technology at three levels of packaging primary, secondary and tertiary.

"Barcoding requirement is compulsory for pharmaceuticals and drugs manufactured on or after October 1 2011,"

DGFT said in a circular.

In addition to the unique product identification code, packs are to also mention the batch number, expiry date and serial number, it said.

As per DGFT, companies will have to affix bar-codes on all primary secondary and tertiary level packaging as well. While on primary level packaging, the companies have to affix barcodes from July 1, 2012.

For the secondary packaging (like packets), mandatory bar-coding will be from January 1, 2012. India exports over USD 9 billion worth of drugs annually.

The government wants to increase that figure manifold in the next few years. There is a big market for generics in the developed world.

Industry experts say the only way Indian pharma firms can tap the market is by ensuring quality, and barcoding will help ensure that.