New Delhi: Nigeria has taken up with Interpol the issue of fake drugs seized in the African country with a ‘Made in India’ label, allegedly originating in China.
“We have contacted the Interpol, so the Interpol is looking into the case. We hope to get to the bottom of it,” said National Agency for Food And Drug Administration And Control (Nafdac) director-general Paul Orhii on Tuesday.
He said the Chinese authorities have asked the Nigerian government for more information regarding the issue.
“They (Chinese) are (investigating) and I think they have made some progress,” he said. Nigeria was more vigilant and scrutinising Chinese companies more closely after the seizure, he added.
Orhii, however, said the incident has not affected the image of Indian firms in the country.
“We made it immediately known to everybody that (the drugs) are not made in India,” he said on the sidelines of a Ficci meet. “We need to jointly conduct with the Indian government a public awareness campaign about Indian products coming to Nigeria.”
Recently, fake drugs carrying the ‘Made in India´ label were seized in Nigeria, but were allegedly manufactured in China. India took up the issue with China as this could damage the reputation of the $12 billion Indian pharmaceutical industry in the global market.