The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) says it has granted pharmaceutical giant, Tobinco, the permission to repatriate unregistered drugs it imported into the country.

The pharmaceutical company has recently been embroiled in a media war with the regulator over the importation of what the latter described as substandard and unregistered drugs.

The murky situation compelled the Health Committee in Parliament to intervene and called for a truce to investigate the issues.

But Acting Head of Post Market Surveillance and Drug Enforcement at the FDA, Issaka Collisson Coffie Tuesday, disclosed to Joy News that Tobinco wrote a letter to FDA seeking permission to re-export the drugs. This has been granted by the regulator, he noted.

The Authority "cannot guarantee the safety, efficacy and quality of the drugs,” he indicated.

According to Issaka Coffie, Tobinco has been directed to carry out the exercise within one week, adding that the 23 containers stocking the drugs have been seized at the ports and should find its way out of Ghana’s shores by December 10.

The exercise would be supervised by the FDA.

The company has also been instructed to ensure that drugs detained in the warehouses - both known and previously unknown – are not offered for sale.

Issaka Coffie charged importers to get abreast with the laws bothering on importation of drugs and comply with them.

Meanwhile, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) today spent hours interrogating Samuel Tobin, owner of Tobinco Pharmaceutical Company Limited, who was arrested by the EOCO and detained at the Nima Police Station yesterday.

EOCO is investigating FDA allegations that Tobinco is still hoarding and distributing its G-Sunate plus suppositories, which the FDA says are unregistered.

Mr. Samuel Tobin reported to the police Tuesday morning, Dr. Peter Tobin, a management member of the company told Joy News, further indicating that he is expected to report to the police on December 16 for investigations to continue.

Issaka Coffie explained to Joy News that EOCO’s roles in the matter was to ascertain the fact that Tobinco imported substandard drugs and how they managed to clear them from the ports.