Malaysia demands RI open its drug market
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.