India has banned the use of plastic packaging for liquid pharmaceutical formulations, according to the website ICIS.
A letter was issued on Oct. 19 from India’s Ministry of Health that read: “No pharmaceutical manufacturer shall use PET or plastic containers for packing liquid oral formulations for primary packaging of drug formulations for use by pediatric, geriatric and women of reproductive age.”
The domestic pharmaceutical industry was given six months to switch over to glass packaging, according to the article.
The decision has been almost two years in the making, as India began looking into the subject in early 2013.
Opponents of the move argued that in highly regulated markets, like Japan, the United States, PET was regularly used as packaging material for pharmaceutical products, according to the article.
However, those in favor of it argued that plastic packaging contains chemicals that could cause issues with a person's hormone system a health ministry official told the newspaper.
Temperature was cited as one of the reasons India is different compared to other markets, according to a report.
The article explained:
"…With temperatures rising to as high as 45-50 degree centigrade in most parts of the country, risks of degradation from use of plastic packaging was much higher the ministry official said."
