Import ban on two pharma chemicals extracted from pigs

The Central government has banned imports of two pharma chemicals that are derived from pigs and used to manufacture tablets for gall bladder and liver treatment.

China is a big supplier of these chemicals and it is now feared that some unknown viral contaminants and other pathogens in the chemicals could have entered the country due to the imports. The ban was imposed on March 16, ahead of the coronavirus lockdown.

The import ban came into force just five days after the WHO declared Covid-19 as a global pandemic. The unhygienic practices of the Chinese pork industry and the continued prevalence of African Swine Flu (ASF) among Chinese pigs were some of the triggers for the ban.

However, Government sources told BusinessLine that as early May 2019, red flags were raised about the viral outbreak of ASF in the Chinese pig population. Advisories were sent to the authorities but the action came after much delay. Sources pointed out that the delay had raised the possibility of unknown viruses entering the India population via Chinese imports.

Cruel extraction procedures

The two banned pharma chemicals are Chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). Both the acids can be extracted from biles of Asian black bears and domestic pigs. China also has bear farms for extracting the bile but such farms have invited strong criticism from global animal rights organisations due to cruel extraction procedures.

The acid extraction is a byproduct of the Chinese multi-billion dollar pork meat industry. The extracts containing CDCA and UDCA are processed by its pharmaceutical industry and are exported to the global market. However, since August 2018, the Chinese pork industry has been ravaged by the African Swine Fever (ASF), which has killed millions of pigs. Some estimates have pegged the pig deaths at about 100 million.

The ASF virus is lethal to both domestic and wild swine, the animals die within 6-13 days after infection. Mortality rates can be as high as 100 per cent. Currently, there is neither a cure nor an effective vaccine against the ASF virus.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, gazette notification of March 16 reads, “...the Central Government is satisfied that the use of the drugs Chenodeoxycholic acid and Ursodeoxycholic acid, extracted and prepared from porcine (pig) sources, is likely to involve certain risk to human beings and animals and that it is necessary and expedient to prohibit the import of the said drugs in the public interest.”

Possible corona warning?

Sources in the Central agencies said that despite the warnings, policy makers took the matter seriously only in March. If the bureaucracy had acted early, imports of potentially contaminated CDCA and UDCA could have been prevented from landing in the country.

The Indian diplomatic personnel in Beijing should have also been kept in the loop to assess the threat and their diplomatic reports could have been used for an early warning system against the coronavirus. The reports might have given some lead time to the PMO and other Ministries about the corona pandemic brewing in China, sources said.

Experts in the fields of pharmacology and biotechnology, who have served in a national institution such as AIIMS and Department of Biotechnology, told BusinessLine there exists a possibility of unknown viruses and other harmful microorganism entering into the chemicals extracted from the pigs. That is why the ban had to be enforced.

Though BusinessLine tried to reach the Secretary of Department of Health and Family Welfare, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, via email, seeking comments about the issue, there was no response.

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