Malaysia demands RI open its drug market

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Malaysian government has banned new drug imports from Indonesia since the middle of this year in retaliation against the long and bureaucratic procedure faced by Malaysian pharmaceutical firms to register their products in Indonesia.

Head of the Indonesian food and drug Agency (POM) Sampoerno said on Thursday that the Malaysian government had voiced its concern with the agency over this problem.

"Basically, Malaysia wants fair treatment for its drugs," he said, adding that the Malaysian government claimed Indonesian drugs had flooded the Malaysian market because of the latter's favorable and lenient drug import policy.

According to Sampoerno, the registration procedure for a Malaysian-made drug here could take one year, compared to only one to two months needed by local manufacturers.

He did not explain why the longer registration procedure was needed for Malaysian products.

Some 2,000 drug products from Indonesia have entered Malaysia during the past 10 years.

In 2002, about 200 new drug products from Indonesia have been queuing for registration to enter Malaysia.

The Indonesian drugs are well accepted by the Malaysian market due to their low price and relatively good quality.

The import of Malaysian-made drugs in Indonesia is still small, and no precise data is available.

"Malaysia is seeking to have a (greater) market share in Indonesia, and, at the same time, trying to stop the flood of our drugs into the country," Sampoerno said.

"They perceive that our drugs might threaten their domestic industry," he added.

Officials from Indonesia and Malaysia are expected to meet later in October to try and settle the issue.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Indonesian Pharmaceutical Federation (GPFI) Anthony Ch. Sunarjo said that the ban imposed by the Malaysian government was not a serious problem because Malaysia was only a small market.

"The ban is not of concern to us. What we fear is the government might allow Malaysia-made drugs to easily enter this country. It will threaten our market share, in an already-crowded market," said Anthony.

Currently, there are 198 pharmaceutical manufacturers in the country, in a total market worth only US$1.5 billion.

He added that Malaysia's pharmaceutical industry was eager to have a greater share in the Indonesian market, with its more than 210 million population, compared with Malaysia's 24 million.

To date, Indonesian drug manufacturers have exported their products to 56 countries, mostly to developing and poor nations in Asia and Africa.

The total export value in 2001 reached some $80 million.