E-drug: No exit strategy for para 6 negotiations?
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Given the reports of the negotiations, one has to wonder if there is an exit
strategy from a bad negotiation, or if some people are bound to cut a deal
no matter how prejudicial it is to the meaning of the rest of the Doha
Declaration and the future of non-para 6 export strategies.
It is remarkable that last week there is still a serious effort to limit the
scope of diseases, not only to "grave" illnesses or epidemics, but maybe
just a few of those.... and creating a completely indefensible limitation on
efficiencies for everything from cancer to asthma treatments that you
could never explain to a 1st year public health student. And now we
learn that a few countries including Japan are even questioning if an
HIV vaccine would qualify for exports -- as if country by country
manufacturing of vaccines makes any sense at all.
One has to make a few obvious points here.
1. How do we get so far into the negotiations with such ludicrous
proposals being talked about?
2. Are people sending the signal that they are so anxious to cut a deal
soon that the US, EU and Japan can make people crawl?
3. Why isn't there more of an effort by delegates to work more
constructively with NGOs, who can shame the US and EU, if given a little
cooperation? Do they really think the power is in the face to face
negotiations, and not outside the rooms? CEOs of big pharma
companies are making calls to high officials in the US and EU. What
kind of pressure can NGOs put on Lamy and Zoellick if the delegates
cannot even raise basic things in the negotiations (like the EU
parliament Amendment 196, the French and Belgium positions, etc),
which NGOs can use with the US and EU press?
4. Is there any exit strategy if Zoellick and Lamy just dig in? What's the
big deal about having to cut a deal? Someone gets to be part of a historic
agreement? Under para 7 of the declaration, LDCs can export anything to
anyone until 2016. Everyone else can figue out how to do the 31.k exports.
Why cut a really bad deal that creates a terrible role for the WTO to
monitor developing country IPR policies, and which will be used
predictably to prevent other feasible export strategies from being
used, politically?
Jamie
James Love, Consumer Project on Technology
http://www.cptech.org, mailto:love@cptech.org
voice: 1.202.387.8030; mobile 1.202.361.3040
James Love <james.love@cptech.org>
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