While welcoming the progress on the proposed UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) has expressed strong concerns about potential adverse impacts on India’s medical device manufacturing ecosystem.
Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator of AiMeD, highlighted that past FTAs have made the country more import-dependent, weakening the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat. “While this is a path-breaking initiative, FTAs in the past have been detrimental to the medical devices sector and have only made us more import-dependent and less Atmanirbhar,” said Nath.
AiMeD has raised concerns with both the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the Department of Commerce, urging for fast-track regulatory approvals based on ICMeD-ISO certifications to counter non-tariff barriers imposed by the UK.
Nath also emphasized the need for strict origin rules to prevent rerouted products from countries like China from entering India through the UK under FTA benefits. “We are not afraid of competing with genuine UK-made products. However, we have requested that products availing FTA benefits must have over 35% value addition in the UK along with a change in tariff heading of inputs,” he added.
While AiMeD welcomes medical device imports from the UK, it insists that they should not undermine domestic manufacturing under the Make in India initiative. “We are seeking finer details to enable us to make an informed comment,” Nath concluded.