Knocked off its high horse by the Covid-19 tsunami, the Union government has given the nod to relax the regulations for import of medical devices into the country. A three-month relaxation in procedures will see 17 categories of desperately needed supplies without the hitherto mandatory declarations.
The medical devices that can now be much more easily, and more importantly, quickly, imported into the country without hassles of filling up forms and meeting customs requirements at check points include the likes of oxygen concentrators, cylinders including cryogenic cylinders, masks for ICU ventilators, etc.
A note issued by the Legal Metrology Division of the consumer affairs ministry said this is due to the “steep demand of medical devices in this critical condition on an urgent basis in view of the emergent health concerns and immediate supply to the medical industry.”
The prerequisite of making all declarations required under the rules after import/customs clearance can now be done in three months, though the government rider says it should be done before the finished product is sold. As per this move, medical device importers will now be able to order and bring in the notified items into the country much faster and without any delay at customs checkpoints, to meet the acute shortage of medical gear across the country right now to battle the pandemic.
“Government under the leadership of PM Narendra Modiji permits importers of medical devices for making mandatory declarations required under legal metrology rules 2011 after custom clearance & before sale,” tweeted Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal Thursday morning. The government had a few days ago already asked the customs department to speed up clearance for Covid-related shipments.
The 17 items are nebulisers, oxygen concentrators, CPAP devices, BIPAP devices and oxygen concentrators, along with flow meter, regulators, connectors and tubing, VPSA and PSA oxygen plants, cryogenic oxygen separation units producing liquid and gaseous oxygen, canisters for oxygen, cryogenic cylinders for oxygen, filling systems for oxygen, parts to be used for the manufacture of equipment for production, transportation, distribution or storage of oxygen, oxygen generators, any other device from which oxygen can be generated, ventilators with nasal cannula; compressors, including all accessories and tubing, humidifiers and viral filters, high flow nasal cannula device with all attachments, helmets for use with non-invasive ventilation, non-invasive ventilation oronasal masks for ICU ventilators and non-invasive ventilation nasal masks for ICU ventilators.