E-DRUG: Experts warn on Uganda draft Counterfeit Goods Bill 2009
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PRESS RELEASE
ENTEBBE, Thursday, 10th September 2009 . A meeting of intellectual property rights (IPR) experts has warned that Uganda's draft Counterfeit Goods Bill 2009 may hamper development by limiting access to essential medicines, knowledge and technology, if government passes it in its present form.
They noted the biggest weakness of the Bill to be the many provisions that go beyond what is required by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and thus, does not take full advantage of the flexibilities the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement provides to least developed countries (LDCs).
What makes a product counterfeit is its deliberate and fraudulent mislabelling, not its patent status as the Bill tries to imply. Mislabeling of a product is not a patent issue and for that reason issues of patent infringement should be left to the Industrial Property Bill, which is also in process, to avoid confusing the enforcement agencies,â said Mr Moses Mulumba, Health and Human Rights Advisor with HEPS-Uganda.
The two-day meeting was organised by HEPS-Uganda, a health rights NGO, in partnership with UNDP, Open Society Institute (OSI), Health Action International (HAI Africa) and the Third World Network, as part of the process of broadening the understanding of the implications of the bill.
The meeting, which also discussed the draft EAC Policy on Anti-Counterfeiting, was held from Wednesday 9th-Thursday 10th September 2009 at Imperial Resort Beach Hotel in Entebbe, Uganda.
It brought together 39 participants who included members of parliament; technocrats in the Ministry of Trade, of Health, and of Justice; statutory agencies; the civil society; and national and international experts on development and intellectual property issues.
Discussions showed that the draft Counterfeit Goods Bill 2009 contains provisions that conflict with the flexibilities, exceptions, limitations and safeguards already guaranteed in existing legislations on copyright, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets as well as with the penal code and the UNBS Act.
In effect, the bill outlaws generic medicines, some which are being produced in Uganda, putting the lives of the more than 90% of Ugandans who depend on these medicines at stake.
The meeting recommended a thorough review of all existing IP and other relevant legislations, to assess whether the Counterfeit Goods Bill is really needed. And if it found to be needed, the meeting recommended that its objective must be clear and the scope narrowed to trademark infringements and possibly copyright infringements. All other IPRs such as patents should be excluded from the scope of the Bill.
In case you need more information, feel free to contact
Rosette Mutambi,
Executive Director,
HEPS-Uganda,
(Tel: +256-414-270970, Mob: 0782-371401).
Mulumba Moses <mulumba_mos@yahoo.co.uk>