IRAN PLANNING STRICTER CHECKS ON DRUG IMPORTS

According to local sources, the Iranian government is shortly to introduce new quality checks on a number of imported products, including pharmaceuticals. New proposals outlined by the country's Standards and Industrial Research Institute may also oblige importers to certify that drugs have been subjected to quality controls in their country of origin.

The move is interpreted as symptomatic of the Iranian government's low-cost drugs policy, which has favoured cheap generic and copy imports for many years. Officials recently claimed that prices of foreign drugs are to fall by 70% this year, purportedly as a result of new legislation to encourage competition in the sector. Meanwhile, severe price controls continue to alienate the multinational drug industry, which claims that current legislation is biased against foreign companies. Investment is widely expected to remain flat in the local market, where annual per capita spending is estimated at just US$10.