E-DRUG: MSF: EU/India trade pact could limit cheap drugs
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http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-46875820100312
By Jonathan Lynn
(Reuters) - Poor people in India and other developing countries may lose
access to affordable generic drugs as part of free-trade negotiations
between India and the European Union, a medical advocacy group said on
Friday.
The warning by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) highlights one of the most
sensitive issues in trade -- the extent to which companies' intellectual
property rights can be waived to help poor countries and whether that
stifles research and innovation.
The European Union said it was not asking that India stop producing cheap
generic medicines.
Back in 2005 India granted patents on medicines to respect international
trade rules and MSF said a new free-trade agreement now under negotiation
would tighten these rules.
"The bilateral trade agreement negotiated with the EU now threatens to
impose even higher standards of intellectual property protection, enabling
companies to maintain prohibitively high prices on medicines," it said in a
statement.
Anti-poverty campaigners are particularly concerned about the impact of the
EU-India deal because of India's large generic drugs industry.
In New Delhi, about 150-200 people, including HIV/AIDS sufferers, protested
outside the trade ministry as EU and Indian negotiators arrived for talks.
"We are marching to call on the Indian government not to trade away our
lives," said Loon Gangte, president of the Delhi Network of Positive
People.
Gangte said international trade rules that India had already signed up to
meant some newer AIDS treatments were patented and unaffordable, and the
new EU agreement could further compromise access to life-saving medicine.
"PHARMACY OF THE DEVELOPING WORLD"
MSF campaigner Leena Menghaney said India was the "pharmacy of the
developing world", providing 92 percent of AIDS medicines now used in
developing countries.
"India is like a safe haven. If you can't get the drugs from India, where
else can you them from?" she told Reuters.
The European Commission says any deal would allow India to continue
providing affordable drugs.
"We have made it clear that both parties must keep the capacity to promote
access to medicines in the developing world," commission trade spokesman
John Clancy told Reuters.
This week's closed-door talks in New Delhi will be followed by formal
negotiations in Brussels in April.
The EU's new trade commissioner, Karel de Gucht, wants to complete the
free-trade agreement by October.
But some Indian officials believe that is ambitious, given the need to
discuss sensitive issues such as child labour and environmental standards.
De Gucht, a former EU development and humanitarian aid commissioner, told
the European Parliament in January that access to medicine should be a
fundamental right and the agreement would not impede trade in generics, but
intellectual property rights also needed to be respected.
MSF said the proposed agreement -- whose details have not been officially
published -- would legitimise seizures by EU officials of Indian generic
drugs in transit to other developing countries.
India and Brazil have threatened to launch a formal dispute at the World
Trade Organization over EU seizures of Indian generics bound for Brazil,
but negotiations to settle the row are continuing.
MSF said the proposed agreement would delay the registration of generic
medicines for several years and extend patent terms beyond 20 years.
(Additional reporting by Matthias Williams in New Delhi)