I WAS interested in setting up a business to deal in various categories of medicines, but became concerned when some friends of mine in the pharmaceutical trade told me it would take more than two months to apply for a wholesale medicine licence and more than a year to obtain a medicine registration certificate. Some even said that they were still waiting for approval of applications they had submitted 18 months ago. I wanted some clarification on this matter, but my attempts to get straight answers to my questions were fruitless. All I got from the Government was a copy of guidelines which did not specify the waiting times regarding applications. Since Mr Chris Patten took over as Governor of Hong Kong, the Government has introduced a Citizens' Charter, which gives every citizen the right to deal with government departments and other public bodies. The effect of this charter is that a number of government departments have made public their performance pledges, specifying how long citizens should have to wait for responses to requests or applications they have submitted. Many of these departments have been able to respond promptly. I hope that the head of the relevant government department will be able to give similar performance pledges, and set out the time schedule for processing applications for various pharmacy licences and medicine registration certificates. I hope it really does not take as long as two months for the relevant department to issue a licence, and that it does not take a year or more to register a medicine for sale in Hong Kong. This simply is not acceptable by any standard. VENUS NG Kowloon
