Commerce Ministry Seeks Cabinet Approval to Ban Trade With India

The Ministry of Commerce is preparing to send a summary to the federal cabinet seeking formal approval to suspend all remaining imports from India, sources told ProPakistani. The ban will end exemptions currently in place for certain critical health-related imports. A notification to ban trade will only be issued after the cabinet grants its approval. Although a general trade ban with India has been in effect since August 5, 2019, Pakistan has continued to import a limited range of essential medicines and vaccines, particularly life-saving drugs, Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) vaccines, and anti-rabies vaccines used to treat dog bite cases. The proposed ban is expected to impact the supply of these critical health products. While some medicines and vaccines could potentially be imported from China, registration of these alternatives will require time and in the meantime create a temporary supply gap.