Submit self declaration for FY 2024-2025 under UCPMP by June 30: Department of Pharmaceuticals

New Delhi: Through a recent notice, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Department of Pharmaceuticals, the Government of India has written to all pharmaceutical associations to ensure the submission of a self-declaration by the executive heads for all pharmaceutical companies regarding compliance with the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) for the financial year 2024–2025.

As per the circular, the executive head of each pharmaceutical company has to submit the self-declaration regarding compliance with the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) for the financial year 2024–2025 in the prescribed format, as per the code's prescribed procedure, by June 30, 2024.

The self-declaration statement states,

" This is to undertake that ......................(name of the company), headquartered at ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,... undertakes to comply with the provisions of the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) 2024 and extend all required assistance authorities for the enforcement of this code."

The declaration will guarantee that the executive head of the pharmaceutical company has accepted the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) regulations for the 2024–2025 fiscal year and will provide all necessary support authorities for the enforcement of this code.

Earlier, the Medical Dialogues Team reported that the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Department of Pharmaceuticals, issued the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) 2024.

The voluntary code of marketing practices for the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry- (UCPMP 2024) aims to ensure transparency, integrity, and accountability in the marketing of pharmaceutical products, emphasizing ethical practices within the sector to safeguard the interests of patients and healthcare professionals.

This code governs the conduct of pharmaceutical companies in their marketing practices, duly covering various aspects such as medical representatives, textual and audio-visual promotional materials, samples, gifts, etc.

Further, the code establishes relationships with healthcare professionals, wherein provisions related to travel facilities, hospitality, and cash or monetary grants to doctors or their families have been elaborated.

The code has also detailed the mode of operation of the code, the responsibilities of the Pharmaceutical Associations in constituting the Ethics Committee for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (ECPMP) for handling the complaints and the Apex Ethics Committee for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (AECPMP) for review, the procedure of lodging complaints, the procedure of handling complaints by the Pharmaceutical Associations, and various penalty provisions.

In light of the aforementioned, the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India, has urged all pharmaceutical associations to guarantee that the executive head of the pharmaceutical company submits a self-declaration regarding compliance with the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) for the financial year 2024–2025. The Executive Head of the Company is required to submit the self-declaration in the prescribed format for FY 2024–2025 under the UCPMP by June 30, 2024, following the procedure outlined in the code.

To view the official notice, click the link below: