Compliance with Medical Device Regulations SIMAP Sialkot asked to take relevant bodies on board

Minister for Industries and Production, Makhdoom Syed Murtaza Mahmood has assured full support of the government to address all challenges faced by the surgical instruments manufacturing industry of the country.
He visited the offices of the Surgical Instruments Manufacturers Association of Pakistan (SIMAP), Sialkot.
He advised taking on board all the relevant organizations which include the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC), and more for an early resolution of medical device regulations (MDR) which will come in force in 2024 and may seriously affect the exports of this sector if compliance was not achieved by the industry.
He assured the association of seeking possibilities at the government level to negotiate with other international certification bodies for providing MDR solutions to the industry.
He advised the industry to identify two to three medical devices for reverse engineering and local manufacturing with the support of the Ministry of Industry attached department.
The minister also directed to review of the existing rules and regulations of the Export Processing Zones Authority(EPZA) and other Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for making them more industry-friendly to increase the ease of doing business in the country.
He stressed that all the provincial and federal organizations and departments need to collaborate to solve problems faced by the surgical industry to further increase exports of the surgical sector.
He was accompanied by the Chairman Engineering Development Board (EDB) and senior officials of the Ministry of Industries and Production and the Chairman Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA), Chief Executive Officers of EDB, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), National Productivity Organization (NPO), Pakistan Industrial Technical Assistance Center (PITAC) and Director Technology Upgradation and Skill Development Company (TUSDEC) were also presented on the occasion.
The provincial organizations including Punjab Small Indus­trial Corporation, Cluster De­velopment Institute, TEVTA and Customs Department also attended the meeting. — ERMD