Policy Alert: Government Urged to Mitigate Risks as Pharma Trade Concessions Expire.
Jitendra Basnet, Director General of the Department of Industry, warns that Nepal’s graduation from a Least Developed Country (LDC) to a Developing Country could trigger a sharp rise in the cost of medicines and vaccines. The loss of international patent waivers will force local manufacturers to pay global royalties, significantly increasing production costs and market prices.
On the occasion of World Intellectual Property Day, Director General of the Department of Industry, Jitendra Basnet, highlighted a looming crisis for Nepal’s pharmaceutical sector. Currently, as an LDC, Nepal benefits from special provisions that allow the production of generic medicines and vaccines without adhering to international patent rights. However, upon graduating to a "Developing Country" status, these waivers will be revoked. Consequently, Nepali pharmaceutical firms will be legally required to pay royalties to patent-holding global companies, which Basnet predicts will cause a sudden and substantial spike in the retail prices of locally manufactured drugs. Beyond healthcare, Basnet emphasized that graduation will lead to the withdrawal of duty-free and quota-free facilities Nepal currently enjoys in international trade, particularly with India and third-party countries. He warned that this shift would impact the private sector's sustainability, the existing tax structure, and the general public's purchasing power. To counter these challenges, the Director General urged the government to implement proactive risk-mitigation strategies and a robust intellectual property framework to protect the domestic industrial environment during the transition.