The Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), which represents domestic crop protection manufacturers, has come out against introducing data protection for agrochemicals, arguing that it would delay affordable products for farmers and weaken India's manufacturing advantage, Global Agriculture reports from the federation's 63rd annual general meeting in New Delhi.
CCFI chairman Deepak Shah said patented crop protection products often arrive in India much later than in other markets. If data protection were granted on top of that late introduction, Indian makers would have little time to bring generic versions to market once the patent expires. "If data protection is provided when a company introduces the product late in India, farmers lose out on the cost benefit that comes from competitive domestic manufacturing," he said.
According to Shah, making a molecule in India after its patent expires can bring the production cost down to around a third or a quarter of the earlier cost. The federation puts the country's agrochemical manufacturing base at about Rs 45,000 crore.
Vice chairman Rajesh Aggarwal asked why companies that develop new molecules, and generate data for the whole world, do not register them in India while they are still under patent. He said 36 new pesticide molecules had been registered in India over the last two years, which the federation calls a record, as evidence that the lack of data protection is not keeping new products out. He called the proposal "retrograde" and contrary to the government's Make in India goals.
Aggarwal said about 90% of the global agrochemical market is generic products, a segment in which Indian manufacturers compete internationally. CCFI also cited a 2021 report of a parliamentary standing committee that, in the federation's reading, considered the 20-year patent term already a substantial monopoly.
The federation wants policy to focus on timely registration of new molecules while keeping competition from post-patent generic products.
Source: Global Agriculture
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