Prateek Tanmay
3 min readJul 8, 2026 12:46 PM IST
An expert committee under the apex drug regulator has recommended that all state drug authorities post details of any regulatory action taken by them on their official website and also send a copy to the Central regulator each month. This measure has been taken to ensure that there is no regulatory disconnect.
“…it has been observed that some manufacturers have been found submitting a photocopy of the original product licence for various procurement orders despite the cancellation of their original product license,” said the minutes of the meeting held on June 24.
The Drug Consultative Committee noted that details related to regulatory actions are not uploaded by the states on their official website for disclosure to the public.
After deliberation, the committee recommended three things. One, the state drug authority should put up all its orders relating to suspension or cancellation of licenses, stop production order, or recall order online on their official website. Two, the regulators share the details of such action with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) before the 10th of every month. And, it recommended that all states provide the monthly list of drugs found to be not of standard quality (NSQ) to the central agency every month.
An expert, on condition of anonymity, said: “The purpose of putting the orders online is to make people aware about the action taken against a company. It is naming and shaming the company in question. It will not make much of a difference when it comes to regulatory processes. When such an order is issued, it is the responsibility of the state drug regulator to ensure that the company follows it. The Central regulator anyway cannot act independently.”
Again, when it comes to recall of a drug, putting orders online ensures that people — at least those who are selling the drugs — are aware that a drug has been recalled even if they are in another state, they added.
When it comes to NSQ drugs, the states are already required to send the details to the central authority, which publishes a monthly list of actions taken across the country. This list, however, currently remains incomplete with several states not providing the data.
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The meeting also discussed whether there was a way to register all suppliers of printed material used for packaging drugs in the country, seeing that such material is being diverted and being misused to introduce counterfeit and spurious medicines in the market. The expert committee recommended the constitution of a sub-committee on the particular issue.
“The sub-committee may give its report on: The necessity and feasibility of such registration; To suggest an appropriate regulatory framework for insertion under the Drugs Rules…; Any other measures considered necessary to prevent diversion and misuse of pharmaceutical packaging materials…” the minutes of the meeting said.
