New Delhi, June 27 -- The Union ministry of health and family welfare is planning to rationalise the minimum residual shelf life requirement for imported drugs to ensure greater supply efficiency in the pharmaceutical supply chain while maintaining the availability of quality medicines. A draft notification, dated June 22, proposes to make amendments to Rule 31 of the Drugs Rules, 1945, to revise the minimum residual shelf life of more than 60% for imported drugs to a minimum of 12 months at the time of export. "...The licensing authority shall not allow the import of any drug having less than one year residual shelf-life period as on the date of import," the notification said. The current rule suggests that a drug cannot be imported or dis...