THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Drugs Control Department has initiated a move to do away with the 'retention certificate', which continues to be a crisis for the renewal of licenses of medical stores in the state. The drugs controller will soon convene a meeting of all district heads at the departmental level and discuss the issue. The government will also be informed about this. Kerala Kaumudi had reported that the continuance of the issuance of 'retention certificates', which is not in the law, has put the traders in a crisis.

Most of the officials are of the view that there is no need to waste time by issuing a certificate which is not in the law as there is more than enough work and the certificate should be removed as soon as possible. The department is examining if a circular excluding the certificate can be issued and whether traders can use it for further purposes.

The state drugs control department will also inform the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) that the process of submitting the application on the central government's portal after paying the license renewal fee should be simplified. Earlier, the drug control authorities had informed C-DAC, which manages the portal, about this. The new website came into existence in 2022. There are also complaints that the complex measures in this regard are also troubling the traders.

The condition is that the license should be considered renewed if a person who obtains a pharmacy license pays a fixed fee once in five years. The state drugs control department internally conducts file verification and issues the retaining certificate while this provision under the Central Drugs and Cosmetics Act exists.