The government has decided to give full exemption from basic customs duty on all drugs and food for special medical purposesimported for personal use for the treatment of all rare diseases and it will result in substantial cost savings and provide much needed relief to the patients.

The import duty waiver will come into effect from April 1.

In a notification, the Union finance ministry on Thursday said the annual cost of treatment for some rare diseases may vary from Rs 10 lakh to over Rs 1 crore annually.

It added that individual importers need to produce certificates from central or state officials to avail of the exemption for the diseases listed under the National Policy for Rare Diseases, 2021.

Basic customs duty of 10 per cent is generally charged for medicines. In some categories of lifesaving drugs and vaccines, it is either concessional 5 per cent or zero.

Exemptions were earlier provided to specified drugs for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy.