Afghanistan and Iran sign plan to regulate food and medicines
Afghanistan and Iran have signed an implementation plan aimed at improving the regulation of food, medicines and health products. The plan was signed during an official visit to Iran by Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister of Public Health for Food and Drugs, Mawlawi Hamdullah Zahid.
The plan is based on a cooperation agreement signed in April 2023 between Afghanistan’s former National Food and Drug Authority and Iran’s Ministry of Health and National Food and Drug Organization, following the completion of legal procedures.
The document was signed in Tehran by Mawlawi Hamdullah Zahid and Iran’s Deputy Health Minister and Head of the National Food and Drug Organization, Dr Mehdi Pir Salehi.
It focuses on speeding up product registration, improving oversight of food and medicine imports, combating smuggling, promoting Iranian investment in Afghanistan, strengthening technical capacity, digitalising regulatory systems, and enhancing laboratory cooperation.
The plan will be implemented according to a set timeline and is expected to improve access to safe and effective medicines while reducing the entry of substandard and smuggled products.
