Health Ministry announces Quantitative Restriction on Export for Certain Syringes

On Saturday, the Union Health Ministry has announced a "quantitative restriction" on export of certain categories of syringes for 3 months in order to boost their availability in the domestic market. As per reports, the restriction is applied to three categories of syringes as syringes are vital to sustain the momentum of the programme to vaccinate all eligible citizens against Covid-19 in the shortest possible time, said the ministry.

The ministry clarified, "it is not an export ban on any kind/type of syringes, but is only a "quantitative restriction" on the export of certain type of specified syringes, for limited duration of three months. With a view to ensure adequate availability of syringes, used to administer Covid-19 vaccine, the government of India has enacted this quantitative restriction on the export of three category denominations of syringes only for three months", reported News18.  

In the statement, the ministry said, "With firm political commitment to vaccinate India’s last citizen, fulfilling the philosophy of ’Antyodaya’ espoused by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, the government has put in place a quantitative restriction on export of syringes to boost their domestic availability and uptake." 

Further, the statement said, "It is also clarified that it is not an export ban on any kind/type of syringes, it is only quantitative restriction on the export of certain type of specified syringes, for limited duration of three months. Further, the syringes of denominations and types other than those mentioned above are not covered under quantitative restriction."