Britain said it would strike an agreement with Vietnam to make it easier for pharmaceutical firms to sell UK-made medicines in the Southeast Asian nation, under a new trade strategy that emphasises quick, industry-specific deals.<\/p>\n
Britain launched the new strategy last month, promising a nimbler approach compared to the emphasis it placed on full-fledged free trade agreements following its departure from the European Union.<\/p>\n
Vietnam will hasten the registration of new medicines and vaccines, while recognising approvals from more regulators, including Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the British government told Reuters in a statement. The deal is expected to be confirmed later on Monday.<\/p>\n
“The removal of pharmaceutical barriers with one of our closest trading partners in Asia is a boost for the UK pharmaceutical industry and proof our Industrial and Trade Strategies are already delivering,” British trade minister Douglas Alexander said.
\nThe deal could be worth 250 million pounds ($337 million) to the British pharmaceutical sector over the next five years, the government added.<\/p>\n
The UK-Vietnamese Joint Economic and Trade Committee will meet in London on Monday and also discuss financial services and renewable energy.<\/p>\n
Britain has taken a tougher line on some other sectors, however, with steel imports from Vietnam set to be restricted under a new quota regime.
\nLife sciences, including pharmaceuticals, are a priority sector under Britain’s new industrial strategy, which was also launched last month.<\/p>\n
However, that plan has been delayed by a dispute over drug pricing with the British pharmaceutical sector, which says the government needs to value medicines more fairly and adjust the payments they make back to the health service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Britain said it would strike an agreement with Vietnam to make it easier for pharmaceutical firms to sell UK-made medicines in the Southeast Asian nation, under a new trade strategy that emphasises quick, industry-specific deals. Britain launched the new strategy last month, promising a nimbler approach compared to the emphasis it placed on full-fledged free […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[115],"class_list":{"0":"post-954","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sitefansalaran-international-news","8":"tag-uk-agrees-deal-with-vietnam-to-remove-pharmaceutical-trade-barriers"},"yoast_head":"\n