India and New Zealand to have deeper collaboration in pharma

A delegation led by India's Commerce Secretary, Sunil Barthwal held a number of constructive and outcome-oriented meetings in New Zealand from 26-27 April 2024 to work on ways to deepen the existing bilateral relations.

These meetings were held with the Minister for Trade of New Zealand Todd McClay, Acting Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand, Brook Barrington, at the India-New Zealand Business Council (INZBC) and the 11^th India - New Zealand Joint Trade Committee (JTC) Meeting.

Both sides discussed the establishment of robust bilateral economic dialogue architecture and the creation of working groups on sectors like Agriculture; Food Processing, Storage & Transportation; Forestry and Pharmaceuticals to facilitate ongoing collaboration on key trade and economic issues. 

Collaboration in area of pharmaceuticals and medical devices sector was discussed at length, including the adoption of fast tracking of regulatory process and quality assessment of manufacturing facilities using, as appropriate, the inspection reports of comparable overseas regulators. Greater sourcing of medicines from India and cooperation in medical device sector was also discussed.