E-DRUG: EU-MERCOSUR trade negotiations and A2M
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Dear e-drug participants,
Trade agreements can have a serious impact on access to medicines through, for instance, supplementary delays to the market entry of generic medicines, or additional obstacles to governments' ability to negotiate prices and implement reimbursement decisions.
Health Action International (HAI) is currently updating its position on trade. While TTIP remains in the freezer, we are focusing on the final stage of negotiations between the European Commission (EC) and Mercosur. With an agreement in sight, a number of issues related to extended protections for intellectual property rights are of great concern for members of civil society on both sides of the Atlantic.
HAI aims to submit a position paper to the EC and Mercosur representatives and participating national governments, which states our unease on the contradiction between the negotiated outcomes and the almost universally-endorsed Sustainable Development Goals and national authorities' autonomy in the promotion and protection of public health. We are confident many share our concerns.
Here is a short list of relevant materials we have gathered (mostly thanks to suggestions from organizations and individuals) so far:
Mercosur-EU Free Trade Agreement: Impact analysis of TRIPS-plus measures proposed by the EU on public purchases and domestic production of HIV and Hepatitis C medicines in Brazil Fiocruz- ENSP (September 2017)
http://www.ensp.fiocruz.br/portal-ensp/informe/site/arquivos/anexos/01abfe4ae54f0d6efd743fe6eea6abe259bdb702.PDF
Trading Away Health in the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement Proposed.EU provisions would undermine public health and access to medicines MSF Access Campaign (September 2017)
https://www.msfaccess.org/sites/default/files/MSF_assets/IP/Docs/IP_briefing_note_EU-MERCOSUR_ENG_2017_0.pdf
Proposta de Acordo com a União Europeia é ataque aos direitos e ao futuro do país!
REBRIP (September 2017)
http://www.rebrip.org.br/noticias/proposta-de-acordo-com-a-uniao-europeia-e-ataque-aos-direitos-e-ao-futuro-do-pai-3288/
Joint NGO statement on the health sustainability of trade and investment agreements October 2017
https://epha.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/joint-statement-re-Trade4all-strategy-layout.pdf
Trade for All. Towards a new responsible trade and investment policy. European Commission (DG Trade) 2015
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2015/october/tradoc_153846.pdf
Trade and Sustainable Development chapters in EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) Non-paper Commission Services (July 2017)
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2017/july/tradoc_155686.pdf
Report on the Implementation of the Trade Policy Strategy Trade for All. Delivering a Progressive Trade Policy to Harness Globalization European Commission (DG Trade) (September 2017)
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2017:0491:FIN
If you or your organisation would like to contribute to the development of this position paper, please contact me at jaume@haiweb.org, or trough this listserv. Once we have identified organisations/individuals that are interested in participating in the development of the position paper, we will schedule a conference call. The deadline to send and distribute the position paper will be December 20th.
Regards
Jaume
Jaume Vidal
Policy Advisor
Health Action International
Overtoom 60 (2)
1054 HK Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Jaume Vidal <Jaume@haiweb.org>