E-drug: PhRMA's April 30 statement on USTR/South Africa dispute
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[copied from PHARM-POLICY with thanks]
This was the PhRMA's statement applauding USTR for naming South
Africa on its April 30, 1999 Special 301 watch list. Alan Holmer,
the PhRMA President who is quoted in the press release is a former
USTR official (as is Harvey Bale, the current head of the
International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations
- IFPMA). Holmer, who knows better, implies that South African
legislation on Parallel Imports and compulsory licensing is not
compliant with the WTO/TRIPS accord. According to Administration
sources, lately PhRMA has been backing away from this "big lie"
approach, and is now in some meetings with US officials who are aware
of Article 6 and 31 of the TRIPS, parallel imports and compulsory
licensing are now decribed as "loopholes" in the TRIPS agreement, a
grudging admission that they are indeed legal.
But at least in this April 30 press release, PhRMA is sticking to the
party line. One part of the PhRMA agruement is that since patent
rights have to be made available to "all fields of technology,"
countries cannot have special rules for pharmacueticals.
Jamie
http://www.phrma.org/news/4-30-99s.html
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April 30, 1999
PhRMA SUPPORTS USTR ON SOUTH AFRICA
Washington, D.C. - The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of
America (PhRMA) strongly supports the United States Trade Representative
(USTR) in naming South Africa to its "Special 301" Watch List for
failure to provide adequate and effective intellectual property
protection.
"South Africa fully deserves to be designated because it has failed to
meet its commitment to implement the WTO's TRIPs Agreement and has
actually weakened the terms of intellectual property protection for
pharmaceuticals," said PhRMA President Alan F. Holmer. "South Africa
could provide one of the first test cases for interpreting the scope of
protection provided by TRIPs to all fields of technology, and thus has
broad significance."
Because of the significance of South Africa's policies, USTR will
conduct an "out-of-cycle" review, meaning that at the end of the year it
will determine what further action may be needed.
The "Special 301" provisions of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended,
require the USTR to conduct an annual review to identify countries that
deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights.
Such protection includes compliance with the World Trade Organization's
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the
TRIPs Agreement).
Holmer noted that South Africa's intellectual property regime is
deficient in many respects. It provides no protection for proprietary
registration data. It allows for the parallel importation of
pharmaceuticals - i.e., for third parties to import drugs that are still
under patent in South Africa. And it allows the Government to require a
company to license its patented products to others in violation of the
country's international commitments.
Holmer said he hopes that the USTR's action in naming South Africa to
the Special 301 Watch List will encourage the country to comply with its
TRIPs commitments.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
represents the country's leading research-based pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that
allow patients to lead longer, happier, healthier and more productive
lives. Investing $24 billion this year in discovering and developing new
medicines, PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for cures.
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