India, Brazil Sign MoU on Pharma & Medical Products Regulation; Set $30 Bn Trade Goal

The MoU enables structured information exchange, regulatory capacity building and closer coordination in oversight systems, in line with domestic legal frameworks in both countries.

India and Brazil have formalised a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in pharma and medical products regulation, while jointly setting a target to raise bilateral trade to $30 Bn by 2030, signalling deeper strategic and economic alignment.

The agreement has been exchanged between India’s CDSCOand Brazil’s health regulator, Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (ANVISA), in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Bilateral trade, which stood at $2.4 Bn in 2006 when the two countries elevated ties to a strategic partnership, has grown to $15 Bn, marking a 25 per cent rise over the past year, though leaders from both sides have described the figure as below potential.

The MoU creates a formal mechanism for collaboration in the regulation of pharmaceutical ingredients, finished drugs, biological products and medical devices. It enables structured information exchange, regulatory capacity building and closer coordination in oversight systems, in line with domestic legal frameworks in both countries.

The initiative is expected to improve regulatory convergence, strengthen supply chain resilience and promote access to safe, effective and quality-assured medicines. For digital health stakeholders and pharmaceutical innovators, alignment between two major emerging markets could ease compliance pathways and support faster market entry.

The regulatory cooperation builds on broader health-sector engagement between the two Global South partners and complements collaboration under platforms such as BRICS, IBSA, the G20 and the World Trade Organization.

Both countries have emphasised equitable access to healthcare and the importance of safeguarding national interests within global intellectual property frameworks, particularly in relation to indigenous technologies.

Addressing the India-Brazil Business Forum, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said, "Our bilateral trade, even though it grew by 25 per cent to $15 Bn, is truly suboptimal," adding, "We have to be significantly more ambitious today."

President Lula echoed the sentiment, stating, "The distance between Brazil and India is merely a detail in the face of the potential of friendship between our two nations," and noted that trade could reach $30 Bn by 2030.

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