[Ip-health] Joint Statement by NGOS on TRIPS and Public Health : WTO Members should reject bad deal on medicines

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

Dear All,

On 3 December a joint statement by 12 NGOs as found below was sent to
WTO delegates negotiating a possible "permanent solution" on amending
the TRIPS Agreement in order to permit the export of generic medicines
under compulsory licence to supply countries with insufficient or no
manufacturing capacity.

Please contact me if you would like your NGO or organization to sign on
to this statement which exhorts WTO Members to reject concluding a bad
deal on TRIPS and Public Health.


Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
CPTech
thiru@cptech.org


---------------

3 December 2005

*joint statement by ngo**s ON TRIPS AND PUBLIC HEALTH*

*WTO members should reject bad deal on medicines*

The WTO General Council is considering proposals to amend the TRIPS
Agreement in order to permit the exportation of generic medicines
produced under compulsory license to supply countries with insufficient
or no manufacturing capacity.

According to health, in particular AIDS activists, the proposals are
flawed, and poor countries should not accept a permanent amendment that
has not been shown to work in practice.

In 2001, the WTO signed the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health
(the Doha Declaration), which affirms the right of countries to
prioritize access to medicines and public health over intellectual
property rights. However, the Doha Declaration left unfinished the issue
of how countries with insufficient or no manufacturing capacity can make
use of these rights. Indeed, most poor countries are not adequately
equipped to do efficient domestic production of medicines, while those
which have capacity require the economies of scale of a large, global
market in order to reach prices that the poor can afford. However, under
the TRIPS Agreement, there are significant limitations on exports of
generic medicines made under compulsory license.

On 30 August 2003, the Members of the WTO finally agreed on a mechanism
with many procedures for allowing trade in compulsory-licensed
medicines. The procedures have been criticized by generic industry
experts and activists alike for being too burdensome and unworkable in
practice. However, the US and the EU are pressuring developing countries
to accept that flawed August 30 agreement be locked in as a permanent
amendment to the TRIPS Agreement - despite the fact that the mechanism
has not been used since its introduction more than 2 years ago and its
workability is uncertain.

Following the August Decision, the Africa Group submitted a formal
proposal that removes many of the procedural requirements and this
proposal received wide support from civil society as well as developing
countries as a basis to rethink the mechanism that was agreed to on 30
August 2003. This proposal is also in accordance with the African Health
Ministers=92 recent call in the Gaborone Declaration on =93the Ministers of
Trade to seek a more appropriate permanent solution at the WTO that
revises the TRIPS agreement and removes all constraints, including
procedural requirements, relating to the export and import of generic
medicines=94.

Unfortunately although the Africa proposal enjoyed much support, in the
current negotiations, this proposal does not seem to be discussed at
all. Instead, developing countries are presently being pressured to
agree quickly to an amendment that includes the entire August Decision
and a re-reading of the Chairman=92s statement,(a solution differing
significantly from the original Africa Group proposal) just so that WTO
members have something to harvest at Hong Kong after four years of
negotiations.

In addition, while the discussion in the TRIPS Council and the General
Council have mainly been around the legal status of the Chairman=92s
Statement, we feel that a more in-depth focus has also to be shown on
finding a mechanism that works to facilitate access to medicines. It
must be borne in mind that the lives of millions of people depend on
finding a mechanism that works in facilitating access to medicines.

Thus the current 30 August 2003 mechanism needs to be tested and shown
to work, before it is turned into a permanent feature of the TRIPS
agreement. If the mechanism proves ineffective in achieving its stated
goal =96 enhanced access to affordable medicines for countries with
insufficient or no domestic manufacturing capacity =96 then WTO members
should return to the drawing board and agree to a mechanism that is more
effective.

For now the 30 August 2003 mechanism is a waiver that according to
paragraph 11 only terminates =93on the date on which an amendment to the
TRIPS Agreement replacing its provisions takes effect for that Member=94,
thus effectively it is a permanent waiver for Members to use.

This issue is too important for countries to quickly agree to an
amendment just to be able to claim that the WTO system still works and
can deliver for development. The developed countries, in particular the
US and EU are desperate to deflect attention from their lack of movement
in agriculture and their anti-development proposals in NAMA and
Services. If the price of making that claim is the lives of people
living with treatable but deadly diseases, then developing countries
should not pay it.



*Signatories*

<>Oxfam International
Christian Aid
Consumer Project of Technology (CPTech)
<>Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA)
Health Action International-Asia Pacific
Health-GAP
Act Up Paris
Essential Action
<>R=E9seau pour l'Acc=E8s aux M=E9dicaments Essentiels (RAME)
Institute for Agricultural Trade Policy (IATP)<>
Essential Inventions
Third World Network