The Union ministry of commerce and industry has brought in amendments to the list of Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards and Export Development Authorities, in the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), 2023 to add the Export Promotion Council for Medical Devices (EPC-MD) to the list. With this, the newly launched Council can issue the Registration-Cum-Membership (RCMC) for the items listed as falling under its jurisdiction.
The Ministry has issued a public notice announcing the amendments in Appendix 2T, which is the list of Export Promotion Councils and other export authorities, of appendices and Aayog Niryat Forms of the FTP, 2023. This adds the EPC-MD as a new entry at series number 38 in the appendix. The Export Promotion Council is situated at Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
“Export Promotion Council for Medical Devices has been included in the Appendix 2T of FTP 2023 for issuing RCMC for specific items, with immediate effect,” said the public notice issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade on June 23, 2023.
The amendment also assigns a total of 151 medical devices for which the Council will be issuing RCMC. The list include products including medicated cotton wool, bandages, sterile surgical catgut and similar sterile suture materials, pacifying preparations for x-ray examinations, diagnostic reagents designed to be administered to the patient, first aid boxes and kits, rubber contraceptives for male and female, hot water bottles, ice bag, contraceptive based on hormones and spermicides, sacks and ages including cones, gloves, mittens, mitts-of a kind used for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary purposes, personal protective garments, syringes and needles, catheters, cannulae, stethoscopes, blood transfusion apparatus, acupuncture apparatus, parts and accessories of hearing aids, breathing appliances, clinical diapers, napkins and napkin liners for babies, electro-cardiographs, linear ultrasound scanner, magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, echo cardiograph, ophthalmic lasers, instrument and apparatus for measuring blood pressure, dialysis apparatus, endoscopes, baby incubators, defibrillators, laparoscopes, oxygen therapy apparatus, among others.
In order to ensure a seamless transfer of process, the RCMC issued by the Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) India till the date of issue of the public notice will remain valid till their expiry. The amendment also specifies the items that fall under its jurisdiction, including machineries and equipment, motor vehicles, automobile components, bicycles, bicycles components and accessories, two wheelers and three wheelers, internal combustions engines, compressors and parts among others.
It may be noted that in December, 2022, the Department of Pharmaceuticals has assigned an official from the EEPC as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for the EPC-MD, to be the nodal officer of contact and to carry out all the actions towards establishing the council, on consultation with the DoP till regular functionary is appointed for the EPC-MD.
The Union minister for health and family welfare Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, in the last week of May, 2023 while inaugurating the 8th International Conference on Pharma and Medical Devices Sector, in New Delhi, launched the EPC-MD. The Department of Commerce has approved the creation of the separate council under the administrative control of the DoP, in order to drive the growth of exports of the medical device sector, it added.
Commenting on the launch of the Council, Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator of Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) during the time said that the Exports Promotion Council for Medical Devices will help bring in coordinated inter-ministerial policy measures for unleashing the huge export potential and investment potential of over Rs. 80,000 crore for manufacturing medical devices for the Global market in India’s quest to be one of top 5 preferred supplier base of medical devices worldwide.
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