E-DRUG: US drops Brazil WTO case
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[crossposted from IP-policy with thanks. NN]
This is very good news. US has dropped the case against Brazil. A few
days
after an intense discussion on TRIPS and access to medicines at the
WTO
TRIPS Council and the day of the opening of the UN special session on
AIDS.
The joint statement refers to the shared goals of fighting AIDS and
protecting IP. Positive to see the US acknowledge that this case is
indeed
related to the HIV/AIDS issue.
See text of joint US/Brazil statement below.
Ellen 't Hoen (MSF)
MSF- Access to Essential Medicines Campaign
8, rue Saint-Sabin, 75544 Paris Cedex 11
tel: + 33 (0) 1 40212836
fax: + 33 (0) 1 48066868
e-mail: ellen.t.hoen@paris.msf.org
Web-site: www.accessmed-msf.org
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Joint Communication Brazil - United States
In the spirit of the efforts of Brazil and the U.S. to find a mutually
satisfactory solution to the dispute about the compatibility of
Article 68
of Brazil's Industrial Property Law (Law 9.279/96) with the TRIPS
Agreement,
the two countries agreed on the following.
Without prejudice of the U.S. and Brazil's different interpretations
of the
consistency of Article 68 with the TRIPS Agreement, the U.S.
Government will
withdraw the WTO panel against Brazil concerning the issue, and the
Brazilian Government will agree, in the event it deems necessary to
apply
Article 68 to grant compulsory license on patents held by U.S.
companies, to
hold prior talks on the matter with the U.S.. These talks would be
held
within the scope of the U.S.-Brazil Consultative Mechanism, in a
special
session scheduled to discuss the subject.
Brazil and the U.S. consider that this agreement is an important step
towards greater cooperation between the two countries regarding our
shared
goals of fighting AIDS and protecting intellectual property rights.
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PRESS COMMUNIQU� BY THE GOVERNMENT OF BRAZIL
25 June 25, 2001
The Government of Brazil receives with great satisfaction the decision
by
the Government of the United States to withdraw the panel against
Brazil at
the WTO concerning the compatibility of Article 68 of the Brazilian
Industrial Property Law (Law 9279/96) with the TRIPs Agreement. In the
event
it deems necessary to apply Article 68 to grant compulsory licenses on
patents held by U.S. companies, the Brazilian Government agrees to
hold
prior talks with the U.S. Government. These talks would be held within
the
scope of the U.S.-Brazil Consultative Mechanism, in a special session
scheduled to discuss the subject.
Brazil maintains its conviction that Article 68 is fully consistent
with the
TRIPs Agreement and an important instrument available to the
Government, in
particular in its efforts to increase access of the population to
medicines
and to combat diseases such as AIDS.