New Delhi: In view of the increasing import of medical devices from China and other countries such as the US, Germany, Singapore and the Netherlands, the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) has recommended various measures to deal with the flood of these medical devices being produced. in these countries. “China remained the top import source for India as medical device imports from China grew by 48 per cent from Rs 9,112 crore in 2020-21 (FY21) to Rs 13,538 crore in 2021-22,” said Rajeev Nath, Forum Coordinator, AiMeD.
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Imports from the US also increased by 48 per cent to Rs 10,245 crore in 2021-22 (FY22), from Rs 6,919 crore in 2020-21, AiMed statement said. The value of medical devices from China was almost equal to the combined value of imports from Germany, Singapore and the Netherlands in 2021-22 (FY22). Medical equipment imports continued to grow at “alarming” levels by 41 per cent in FY22.
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India imported medical devices worth Rs 63,200 crore in 2021-22, up 41 per cent from Rs 44,708 crore in 2020-21, according to data from the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. AiMeD has recommended some measures for the Union Budget FY24 to end the 80-85 per cent import dependence forced on India, with a rising import bill of over Rs 63,200 crore.
The industry body said it is positive and above expectation that the government will act on the request of the Indian medical device industry for a separate department of medical devices. This important strategic requirement has also been recommended by the Parliamentary Committee on Health. AIMED has also urged the government to consider shifting from 8 digit HS code to 10 digit HS code as done by US and Europe. More detailed data to enable better analysis and policy-making. In industry classification systems, Harmonized System (HS) codes are commonly used during the export process for goods.
The Harmonized System is a standardized numerical method of classifying traded products. As has been done for mobile phones, AiMeD said the government should reduce the basic customs duty on import of medical devices through the World Trade Organization (WTO) to at least 10 to 15 percent from the current 0-7.5 percent duty. The manufacturing base in India should be protected by increasing The binding rate is mostly 40 percent. Due to such low customs duty, India is importing medical equipment worth Rs 63,200 crore and more than 80 per cent is dependent on imports, the body said. This 80 per cent can be reduced to less than 30 per cent with the right policies as has been done for mobile phones and consumer electronics. Instead of 18 per cent GST being applicable on certain medical devices that are not luxury goods, the industry body recommended that GST be required to be a flat 12 per cent on all medical devices. Along the lines of trade margin monitoring or rationalization, AiMeD said the lower fee was intended to help consumers get cheaper access to equipment. This objective is not served if consumers are charged 10 to 20 times the maximum retail price (MRP) of the import price.
Customs recording of MRP on the bill of entry will help in generating data for policy-making by evidence of trade margin rationalization policy for the manufacturer or importer. With this process, the industry body said there could be a capping of a maximum of four times. The ex-factory price at the first point of sale and the Indian distributor’s import price, i.e. when GST or import duty is levied when it enters the market for the first time.
Trade margin rationalization is a method of price regulation by capping trade margins in the supply chain. It is the difference between the price-to-trade margin by the manufacturers and the price to the patients, which means the maximum retail price. AiMeD’s statement also said that even reducing GST to 5 per cent is making Indian products non-competitive for imports as then manufacturers are unable to maintain low ex-factory prices on the basis of low input cost GST. Unable.