[Ip-health] Press Statement: EU & ACCESS TO DRUGS: COMMISSIONER MANDELSON'S PLAYS A DUAL ROLE

[Alexandra HEUMBER]

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EU & ACCESS TO DRUGS: COMMISSIONER MANDELSON'S PLAYS A DUAL ROLE=0D
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The European Parliament votes to ratify the Trips amendment. At the same=0D
time, news breaks that Mandelson supports Sanofi-Aventis against the Thai=
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government. Is Mandelson a European Commissioner or a guarantor of the=0D
interests of major multinational pharmaceutical companies?=0D
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Strasbourg, 24 October 2007=0D
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The European Parliament approved the ratification of the amendment to the=
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WTO's Trips Agreement (on intellectual property) this morning. It provides=
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for the possibility for countries of the South to produce or to import=0D
low-cost generic drugs.=0D
The vote in Strasbourg was reached after a long standoff with the EU=0D
Council and the European Commission, which have been forced to recognise=0D
the partiality of the mechanism proposed by WTO and the need to find=0D
alternative solutions.=0D
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Commenting on this development, Vittorio Agnoletto, Member of the European=
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Parliament and shadow rapporteur on the resolution to ratify of the Trips=
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amendment, said "As expected, the words and expressions used by the=0D
Portuguese Presidency are all in the conditional and ambiguous and can be=
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interpreted in several different ways. However, in the end we got some=0D
results."=0D
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=E2=80=9CThe most serious thing"  Agnoletto continues  "is that while the=
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Parliament was negotiating with the European Commission, Foreign Trade=0D
Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, wrote to the government of Thailand asking=
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for the review of a national law that allows access to anti-AIDS and=0D
anti-infarct generic drugs to hundreds of thousands of sick people.=0D
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=E2=80=9CMandelson sent two letters to Thailand's Minister of Commerce,=0D
respectively on 10 July and 10 September 2007," Agnoletto explains "and=0D
tried, not only to influence the legislative sovereignty of Bangkok but=0D
also, on behalf of the EU, encouraged the Thai government to make a direct=
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comparison with the owners of the licences, in particular with=0D
Sanofi-Aventis on their Clopidogrel (Plavix) drug=E2=80=9D. This amounts to=
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providing clear and unswerving support to the interests of Sanofi-Aventis=
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and its blockbuster drug: Plavix, used to prevent heart attacks and other=
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heart pathologies. The multinational recorded a turnover six billions of=0D
dollars in 2006.=0D
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=E2=80=9CMandelson's behaviour is grossly unjust both on a political and et=
hical=0D
level. Moreover, it is in formal contradiction with the mandate given to=0D
him by the EU. In fact the rules of the European Union provide that when=0D
politicians assume the role of Commissioner, they commit themselves to=0D
formally representing Europe as well as to maintain complete independence=
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from any particular interest - from their country, their party or any=0D
trade, economic and financial interest.=0D
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"This is a legitimate reason to ask for Mandelson's resignation from his=0D
post so that European Union rules are respected and to avoid a situation=0D
in which European citizens could  be held responsible for the death of=0D
thousands of people in the developing world."=0D
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Vittorio Agnoletto MEP, European United Left - +39 3356356978=0D
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