[e-drug] HAI Members' public comments to the Canadian government on ACTA negotiations

E-DRUG: HAI Members' public comments to the Canadian government on ACTA negotiations
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3 July, 2009

Consultations and Liaison Division (BSL)
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
Lester B. Pearson Building
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G2
E-mail: consultations@international.gc.ca
Fax: 613-944-7981

Enforcement

Dear Sir or Madam:

Health Action International (HAI) welcomes the opportunity to submit
comments to the Canadian government on the ongoing ACTA negotiations.
Our submission consists of the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD)
resolution on the enforcement of copyright, trademarks, patents and
other intellectual property rights.

HAI is a member of the TACD, which represents 80 United States and
European consumer groups. The resolution was approved following the
annual TACD meeting that took place in Brussels June 7th-10th. The
resolution as a whole is relevant to the ACTA negotiations but section
3b explicitly comments on them. Specifically, this section of the
resolution points out that at this point in time the negotiations lack
transparency and legitimacy and it lays out recommendations for how
negotiations should proceed in the future and what consumer safeguards
should be incorporated.

Health Action International is an independent, global network working to
increase access to essential medicines and improve their rational use.

Sincerely,

Joel Lexchin MD
School of Health Policy and Management
York University

and

Barbara Mintzes PhD
Therapeutics Initiative
University of British Columbia

on behalf of Health Action International

Posted by:
Terri Beswick
Communications Officer
Health Action International
www.haiweb.org