E-DRUG: Thai medicines more expensive due to EFTA Free Trade Agreement?
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Press release, January 19, 2006
NGOs urge EFTA countries not to endanger public health, food security
and development in Thailand.
In a letter addressed to EFTA-trade and foreign ministers, 50
organisations urged the trade associationís member states to drop
provisions from a free trade agreement with Thailand that would restrict
access to cheap medicines and credit and limit farmers rights. A second
round of negotiations is taking place this week in Thailand. The
undersigning NGOs fear that a free trade agreement between EFTA and
Thailand could have a negative impact on Thai society.
In October 2005 the European Free Trade Association (Switzerland,
Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and Thailand started negotiations for
a free trade agreement, which both parties intend to conclude by the end
of 2006. Responding to a parliamentary inquiry the government of
Liechtenstein recently confirmed that the EFTA states intend to include
provisions to strengthen intellectual property protection in Thailand
beyond its obligations under the WTO TRIPS agreement.
EFTA is pushing for far-reaching intellectual property rules (5-year
patent extension, 5 to 10-year test data exclusivity) that would delay
and complicate the introduction of cheap generic medicines in Thailand.
In a country beset by serious epidemics, such restrictions are totally
inappropriate. Today there are some 700,000 people with HIV / AIDS in
Thailand (about 1.5% of the adult population). Thanks to cheap generic
drugs the country has been able to expand its program of highly active
antiretroviral therapy to patients in need. Unlike the medicines of the
first-line antiretroviral regimen, most drugs used in the second-line
regimen are under patent in Thailand and their price is significantly
higher. Instead of strengthening monopolistic rights of pharmaceutical
companies, the agreement should allow Thailand to use generic
alternatives in order to provide affordable medicines for its people.
Regarding agriculture, EFTA-countries no longer insist that Thailand
join the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of
Plants (UPOV) but merely that it offer a protection in line with the
UPOV-agreement of 1978. While this is better than in former EFTA
agreements, one wonders why EFTA bothers at all to make rules regarding
the ways in which it expects Thailand to protect its plant varieties.
With such rules and the demand for patents on ìbiotechnological
inventionsî (including plants for agriculture) EFTA-countries actually
limit the flexibility that still exists in the TRIPS-agreement.
EFTA states also require Thailand to liberalize its financial sector
and to suppress controls on capital flows. While EFTA-based insurances
and banks stand to benefit from these measures, local financial
institutions ? the main source of cheap credits for women and rural
populations ? will be weakened and Thailand will become more vulnerable
to financial crises in other countries.
In their letter to EFTA trade and foreign ministers, the 50
organizations from Thailand, Switzerland, Norway and Liechtenstein call
for a trade agreement without additional intellectual property
provisions and without measures to liberalize the Thai financial sector.
Instead of following US-style bilateralism, EFTA governments should give
Thailand maximum flexibility in drafting an IPR-law in line with its
actual needs. EFTA governments should drop all demands for the
liberalization of the financial sector and promote improvements in the
global structure of the financial sector instead, for example in bank
supervision.
For more information, please contact:
Julien Reinhard, Berne Declaration, Switzerland (access to medicaments)
+41 21 620 03 06
François Meienberg, Berne Declaration, Switzerland, (Intellectual
property rights and agriculture) +41 44 277 70 04
Marianne Hochuli, Berne Declaration Switzerland (financial market) +41
44 277 70 11
Sajin Prachason, Focus on the Global South, Bangkok +66 6 7710313
The letter is available on: http://www.evb.ch/en/p5094.html
For more details on TRIPS-plus provisions in EFTA free trade agreements
see the report on agriculture
( http://www.evb.ch/en/p25009518.html ) and the report on medicines (
http://www.evb.ch/en/p25009517.html ) .
The following organizations are endorsing the letter :
Thailand: AIDS ACCESS Foundation, Alliance of Democratic Trade Union,
Alternative Agriculture Network, Assembly of the Poor, Biodiversity and
Community Right Action, Confederation of Consumers Organisation, Drug
Study Group, Foundation for Consumers, FTA Watch, Focus on the Global
South, Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS
Liechtenstein: Liechtenstein Association for Environmental Protection
(LGU), Verein Welt und Heimat, 'Aktion: Wir teilen. Das alternative
Fastenopfer'
Norway: The Development Fund - Norway, attac Norway, Friends of the
Earth Youth Norway - "Natur og Ungdom" // Only the health aspect:
Médecin Sans Frontières - Norway
Switzerland: Berne Declaration, Alliance Sud, Ärztinnen und Ärzte für
Umweltschutz - Médecins en faveur de l'environnement, Association
Maison Populaire de Genève, Association romande des Magasins du Monde,
attac Suisse, Bethlehem Mission Immensee, Blauen-Institut, Bread for
all, Comité pour l'Anulation de la Dette du Tiers Monde (CADTM)-Suisse,
CO-OPERAID, E-CHANGER, Geneva Federation for Cooperation and
Development, Geneva Infant Feeding (GIFA), Greenpeace, Groupe de Travail
Suisse - Colombie - Arbeitsgruppe Schweiz - Kolumbien, medico
international schweiz, MIVA Schweiz, Restaure la Terre, SID'Action,
SolidarMed, SOLIFONDS, Syndicat interprofessionnel de travailleuses et
travailleurs (SIT), Swissaid, TearFund, terre des hommes schweiz, World
Vision Switzerland // Only the health aspect: Antenne Sida du Valais
romand, Centrale Sanitaire Suisse Romande, Groupe Sida Genève, Médecins
Sans Frontières - Suisse, Swiss Aids Federation
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Déclaration de Berne / Berne Declaration
Julien Reinhard
52, r. de Genève, CH-1004 Lausanne, Switzerland
Tél direct: +41-21-620 03 06. Fax: +41-21-620 03 00.
Courriel: reinhard@ladb.ch. Web: www.ladb.ch