<span style="color: #222222;">The Government today put export restrictions on 26 pharma ingredients and medicines, including paracetamol, vitamin B1 and B12, amid the coronavirus outbreak in China.<br />''<br />''With this, the export of these Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, APIs and formulations require a licence from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, DGFT.<br />''<br />''Earlier, there were no restrictions on outbound shipments of these products. The country's API imports stood at around 3.5 billion dollars per year and around 70 percent come from China.<br />''<br />''DGFT in a notification said, the export of specified APIs and formulations made from these APIs is hereby restricted with immediate effect and till further orders. API is the raw material for pharmaceuticals.<br />''<br />''The latest announcement assumes significance on account of concerns over coronavirus spreading to many countries.<br />''<br />''Apart from paracetamol, vitamin B1, B6 and B12, other APIs and formulations over which the export restrictions have been imposed include tinidazole, metronidazole, acyclovir, progesterone, chloramphenicol, ornidazole, formulations made of chloramphenicol, clindamycin salts, neomycin, and paracetamol.<br />''<br />''In February, the Department of Pharmaceuticals asked the DGFT to issue orders restricting the export of 12 APIs and formulations in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.<br />''<br />''A high-level committee formed by the Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers to monitor the supply of raw materials for drugs from China had recommended the restrictions.</span><br />