Simon Barber's thoughts on Gore protests - Sep 3

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

Simon Barber's article on the Gore protests,
which is very much based upon pharmaceutial
industry spin.   Jamie

-----------
http://www.bday.co.za/99/0903/comment/e4.htm

                            03 September 1999 
     AIDS activists' agenda called into question 

Concessions by US Vice-President Al Gore have not
stopped protests, writes Simon Barber

CONTINUED protests by US AIDS activists, who have
been hounding US Vice-President Al Gore to stop opposing
SA legislation designed to cut the cost of medicine, are
prompting questions from officials of both governments as
well as the pharmaceuticals industry about their agenda.

Questions are also being raised about possible renegade
encouragement they may be receiving from inside the SA
government.

   [snip]


.  . . this week the activists, now calling themselves
AIDS Drugs for Africa, chained themselves to railings
outside Gore's office. Their aim was to publicise a new
complaint that the US concession covered only AIDS drugs,
not other patented pharmaceuticals, and did not prevent the
US government putting pressure on other developing
countries that might follow SA's example.

   [snip]


The Trips agreement bars parties from allowing "parallel"
imports of patented items without the permission of the
patent holder, but states that any disputes that may arise
from violation of this principle are not justiciable by the
WTO. 

   [note by editor, the TRIPS does not bar parallel imports
    of patented items.  Parallel imports of patented goods
    are permitted if a country determines that patent rights
    have been exhausted.  This is the same basis for permitting
    second hand book sales and library lending, as well as
    other forms of the first sale doctrine.]

The agreement also allows signatories, under
narrowly defined circumstances that include national
emergencies like AIDS, to license local third party
manufacturers of patented products for domestic use.

    [This is another mis-statement regarding the
     TRIPS.  Compulsory licensing is permitted
     under a wide range of circumstances.  National
     emergencies are only one of many circumstances
     under which a country can issue compulsory licenses.]


  [snip]

At Gore's urging the office of the US trade representative,
which is responsible for enforcing US trade policy,
unwillingly agreed to make an exception in SA's case and
raise no objection to SA's project to find cheaper sources of
medicine, as long as it was consistent with the Trips
agreement.


    [snip]

Pharmaceuticals industry sources, as well as US and SA
officials, speculate that the fact that the AIDS activists are
continuing their attempts to embarrass Gore indicates that
the protests are being promoted by parties opposed to Trips
as it now stands and who want to see it weakened in the
next, round of trade negotiations. 

      
There are suspicions that an official in the SA health
ministry has been encouraging the anti-Gore protesters to
persist, even though their nominal aims have been achieved,
with selective leaks of information which were designed to
promote his own views over those of government. 

SA officials have been at pains to convince their US
counterparts that Ian Roberts, a key adviser to former
health, now foreign, minister, Nkosazana Zuma, is no longer
party to official deliberations and that his contract will 
expire soon.




-- 
James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology
I can be reached at love@cptech.org, by telephone 202.387.8030,
by fax at 202.234.5176. CPT web page is http://www.cptech.org