India may drag EU to WTO on seizure of drugs

India is considering an option of dragging European Union to WTO against the seizure of pharmaceutical consignments of Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy Labs by the Dutch authorities recently.

India is considering an option of dragging European Union to WTO against the seizure of pharmaceutical consignments of Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy Labs by the Dutch authorities recently.

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Dr Reddy Labs consignment to Brazil was seized in transit by the Dutch authorities on charges of patent infringement.

"Basically it is a very concerted move by MNCs to disrupt the growth of Indian generic industry," Commerce Secretary told reporters in New Delhi on Saturday.

Underscoring the need for unity of the developing countries on the issue Pillai said, "we may have to take the issue to the WTO and challenge it...We would be seeking consultation with the EU."

Under the WTO rules, before a country takes another member to the Dispute Settlement Panel it gets into the process of "consultations". If the consultations do not yield into a resolution of the issues, the WTO Dispute Settlement Panel starts the proceedings.

India's USD 12-billion pharmaceutical industry, gets 40 per cent of its revenue to exports mainly of the generic drugs across the world but mostly to the EU and the US.