AIDS drugs exempted from the Customs Duty
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The Government of India has taken slew of measures to include AIDS/HIV drugs, as a part of its mission to deliver affordable healthcare in India. The recent step towards exempting the HIV Drugs from the customs duty has come as a relief measure to make treatment of AIDS cheaper. This initiative is a welcome follow up to the earlier call of the government, likely to include AIDS drugs under the essential medicine list. India has an estimated population of 2.1 million afflicted with HIV/AIDS.
The government has also extended the exemption to include diagnostics and equipment from customs duty. In effect till March 31, 2016, stated a notification issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs. Also, additional duty on such imports has been waived. The exemption will benefit Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARV Drugs) -- Adult First Line, Adult Second Line and Paediatric Drugs. The diagnostics and equipment on which the duties have been waived comprise 'Cluster of Differentiation (CD) 4 Kits/ Reagents, HIV-DNA-PCR Kits for DNA Testing of Early Infant Diagnostics, Viral Load Kits, CD4 Machines, Viral Load Machines' (as stated on economictimes.com).
The government has also extended the exemption to include diagnostics and equipment from customs duty. In effect till March 31, 2016, stated a notification issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs. Also, additional duty on such imports has been waived. The exemption will benefit Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARV Drugs) -- Adult First Line, Adult Second Line and Paediatric Drugs. The diagnostics and equipment on which the duties have been waived comprise 'Cluster of Differentiation (CD) 4 Kits/ Reagents, HIV-DNA-PCR Kits for DNA Testing of Early Infant Diagnostics, Viral Load Kits, CD4 Machines, Viral Load Machines' (as stated on economictimes.com).
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