Pakistan Introduces Medicine Barcode System Within Sixty Days

ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Authorities in Pakistan announced that every medicine sold in Pakistan will carry barcode within the next 60 days, enabling patients and regulators to verify authenticity and track medicines throughout the supply chain.

Federal Minister for Health Syed Mustafa Kamal made the announcement while addressing ceremony at headquarters of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA). He said all preparations for the nationwide rollout of the barcode system have been completed by the Ministry of Health and the relevant authorities.

Kamal said the initiative is designed to curb Pakistan’s counterfeit drug market, improve patient safety, and restore public confidence in locally manufactured medicines. According to him, the barcode system will allow medicines to be traced from manufacturer to consumer, making it significantly harder for fake and substandard products to enter the market.

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He said illegal trade in counterfeit medicines is worth billions of dollars worldwide. He also referred to a common public perception that medicines imported from countries such as the UAE are more effective than those produced locally, stressing that even if such beliefs are technically unfounded, the government is determined to eliminate them by strengthening quality assurance and transparency.

Alongside the regulatory reforms, the health minister announced major push to attract foreign investment into Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry. A Pakistan-China Business-to-Business Pharma Conference is scheduled for July 17 and 18, with more than 150 Pakistani pharmaceutical companies already registered and over 100 Chinese pharmaceutical firms expected to participate.

The government hopes to secure investment in medical devices, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), innovative medicines, advanced pharmaceutical molecules, and modern manufacturing technologies, with the long-term goal of transforming Pakistan into a regional pharmaceutical hub.

Mustafa Kamal said the government’s priority is to move beyond symbolic memorandums of understanding and focus instead on practical commercial agreements. To accelerate negotiations, virtual business meetings between Pakistani and Chinese companies will begin before the conference.

The minister highlighted Pakistan’s heavy reliance on imported pharmaceutical raw materials. While the country currently manufactures 85 percent of its medicines domestically, nearly 99 percent of the raw materials used in production are imported, primarily from China. He described this dependence as a major economic challenge and called for the development of local API manufacturing to reduce imports, strengthen supply chains, and lower the country’s import bill.