NEW DELHI: The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India(OPPI) is rooting for lower customs and central excise duty on nutraceuticals and health supplements in
Budget 2013.
According to OPPI, basic customs duty(BCD) for health supplements should be slashed to 10% and additional customs duty(ACD)/central excise duty to 6% to make it at par with drugs. This would help in making the products affordable for the common man and help boost the healthcare agenda of the government.
OPPI argues that there is no specific identified entry in the customs and central excise tariff for products usually referred as "Health Supplements" and "Nutraceuticals".
This category covers general health supplements, foods for special nutritional uses, foods for medical purposes and infant products.
Furthermore, it says that these products play an important role in the overall healthcare and well being of the population and must have equal parity with the drugs/medicines.
Majority of the country's population is affected by a variety of diseases like diabetes, cardiac, cancer etc., and thereby, nutrition plays a vital role in early recovery and disease management in addition to treatment and use of drugs.
The healthcare industry and medical professionals have also started recognizing the role of nutrition in therapy and disease management. It is increasingly observed that the effect of drugs and other treatment are expressively better, when managed with right nutrition.
Similarly, in case of infants, nutrition plays an important role in both growth and disease management. With high rate of infant mortality in India, it is pertinent to address these nutritional issues and reduce healthcare costs, adds OPPI.
However, OPPI says that high BCD on import of the said goods and central excise duty of 12% makes these products costlier in the market and thus a deterrent factor for consumption.
Lastly, it adds that healthcare enjoys special focus of the present government. The products should be treated at par with drugs (from a reduced customs duty and central excise levy perspective) which would help in reducing the cost of products.
Moreover, it will lead to more consumption and consequently improving the overall health status of the country's population.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com