The Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) has asked exporters to provide a list of products requiring Standard Input Output Norms (SION) fixation to help them fulfill export obligations in a timely manner.

SIONs are important for import of raw materials required to make units of output for export purposes. It is applicable for a series of products including pharmaceuticals. There are several pharmaceutical products where SIONs are not available causing inconvenience to exporters.

A number of exporters reached out to Pharmexcil informing that they are experiencing delays/difficulty in fixation of the SION norms. Further, the exporters are also unable to accept the new orders due to the non-availability of the SION for some of the products.

Taking serious note of this, Pharmexcil has proposed to prepare a list of formulations where the SION is not fixed or pending for fixation and take up the matter with the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for fixation of SION norms positively.

Accordingly, it requested member companies to provide the list of products requiring SION fixation by July 29, 2021.

The DGFT fixes/reviews the SIONs for various bulk drugs and formulations on the basis of date/applications received from pharmaceutical exporters. The applications are considered by the Norms Committee (NC) headed by the Exports Commissioner in DGFT office Delhi. Pharmexcil is a member of the Committee and DGFT regularly takes help from Pharmexcil for fast disposal of applications.

SION is notified by DGFT in the Handbook, and is affirmed by its boards of directors. An application for change of existing SION might be recorded by the exporter. The DGFT now and again issue warnings for obsession or expansion of SION for various fare items. Obsession of SION norms encourages issuance of Advance License to the exporters of the products with no requirement for referring the same to the DGFT headquarters.