[Ip-health] IP-Watch: Concern Rises Over EU Bilaterals With Developing Countries-
Questions about Food security and Medicines Access
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<FONT face=3D"Default Sans Serif,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" size=
=3D2><DIV><P><STRONG>20 September 2007</STRONG></P><DIV class=3Dpost><H3 cl=
ass=3Dstorytitle id=3Dpost-747>Concern Rises Over EU Bilaterals With Develo=
ping Countries</H3></DIV><DIV class=3Dstorycontent><P>By David Cronin for <=
EM>Intellectual Property Watch</EM><BR>BRUSSELS - Concern is growing in bot=
h Europe and developing countries about whether a series of free trade agre=
ements slated for signature later this year will contain overly stringent r=
ules on intellectual property.</P><P>The European Union?s executive, the Eu=
ropean Commission, has proposed that the Economic Partnership Agreements it=
wishes to conclude with 76 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) by 31 Dece=
mber should commit all parties to a robust enforcement of IP rights. </P><P=
>The Commission?s thinking behind its efforts to have IP provisions in trad=
e deals it reaches with countries outside the EU was outlined in a ?market =
access strategy? published in April. It identified ?poor protection? of IP =
rights as one of the principal barriers to trade encountered by European fi=
rms trying to do business abroad.</P><P>Anti-poverty activists and ACP dipl=
omats have expressed misgivings about the Commission?s approach, arguing th=
at it could be used to prise open poor countries to Western firms to the de=
triment of local industry.</P><P>Dalindyebo Shabalala from the Center for I=
nternational Environmental Law (CIEL) in Geneva argues that developing coun=
tries should have IP standards tailored to their own circumstances. ?What h=
as been put on the table in the EPA talks are EU standards,? he said.</P><P=
>EU negotiators have recommended, for example, that ACP countries should be=
required to comply with the terms of the Copyright Treaty and the Performe=
rs and Phonograms Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization, t=
he so-called ?Internet treaties, both of which entered into force in 2002.<=
/P><P>Shabalala forecasts that the consequence of this provision will be th=
at limits are placed on how developing countries can use the Internet befor=
e many of them have had an opportunity to explore it properly. It is unjust=
ified, he contends, to apply this standard with the same rigour in all ACP =
countries, given that levels of industrialisation vary across them. </P><P>=
?In South Africa, a lot of people have Internet access and are beginning to=
share music and create blogs,? he said. ?But in the Pacific, Internet pene=
tration is minimal. Why is it that the Pacific gets exactly the same propos=
al on copyright protection as the Southern African region??</P><P>Similarly=
, the EU has recommended that far-reaching IP rules should apply to databas=
es. According to Shabalala, this could mean that data generated by governme=
nts such as geographical information of potential use in industrial develop=
ment would no longer be freely available in libraries and educational facil=
ities.</P><P>Marc Maes, a trade campaigner with the Belgian organisation 11=
.11.11, said that EU officials have ?copied and pasted? significant amounts=
of the Union?s enforcement directive on IP rights into the EPA proposals. =
Put forward by the Commission in 2004, its objective was to make it easier =
to punish those who infringe on patents.</P><P>?ACP countries are being ask=
ed to sign up to the EU?s approach to global trade regulation and deregulat=
ion, very much regardless of where these countries are able to make these c=
ommitments,? Maes said. </P><P>Peter Power, the European Commission?s spoke=
sman on trade, said that the EU is seeking to help ACP countries implement =
rules set down in the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-related A=
spects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). </P><P>?This is about promo=
ting innovation and development while safeguarding ACP rights to resources =
such as biodiversity and indigenous crops,? he said. ?It is not about tryin=
g to set stricter standards or additional requirements regarding the protec=
tion of intellectual property.?</P><P>?These are complex issues but the und=
erlying problem is one of a lack of secure intellectual property rights rat=
her than their introduction,? he said. ?Their absence acts as a brake on de=
velopment as companies and research establishments with rights to technolog=
ies and information hesitate to release or license them if they are not pro=
tected. This applies to everything from computer software to food technolog=
y. Less scrupulous operators also exploit loopholes and benefit from resour=
ces taken from the ACP without returning any profits.?</P><P>Power added th=
at ?there are also potential market benefits? for ACP by introducing rules =
on geographical indications, covering the names of food, drink and other pr=
oducts associated with particular regions. ?These protect the name of goods=
like Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and allow producers to sell at higher p=
rices,? he said. </P><P><STRONG>Questions of Food Security, Medicines Acces=
s</STRONG></P><P>The EPAs would apply IP protection to the development of n=
ew varieties of seeds by multinational firms. Environmentalists have argued=
that these provisions could prove inimical to small farmers using traditio=
nal varieties of seeds, with adverse effects on nature conservation and bio=
diversity. </P><P>?We are seeing the privatisation of a lot of seeds and ag=
ricultural knowledge,? said Charly Poppe from the Brussels office of Friend=
s of the Earth. ?Traditional knowledge is being given to corporations who g=
rant themselves the right to sell seeds in the future.?</P><P>Having IP pro=
visions in free trade deals may also not bode well for efforts to tackle cl=
imate change, Poppe added, as it may dissuade poor countries from manufactu=
ring renewable energy systems under patent in Europe. ?The EU is very compe=
titive with developing new green technologies that are very expensive for p=
oor countries to buy? he said. ?IP rights are used to the benefit of indust=
ries in Europe but this could be a hindrance to the transfer of technologie=
s that are badly needed to deal with climate change.?</P><P>Others are worr=
ied by how the IP provisions will cover pharmaceutical patents, without acc=
ompanying measures to protect public health and access to essential medicin=
es. Shabalala said that under these provisions a drugs company holding a pa=
tent for a particular medicine could apply for an injunction on shipments o=
f generic versions of that medicine into an ACP country. ?Border officials =
would be obliged to impound and warehouse it,? he said.</P><P>Junior Lodge,=
a Jamaican official who represents governments from the Caribbean in the E=
PA talks, said the European Commission is using the EPAs as part of a broad=
er effort to win as much business as it can for Western firms. He alleges t=
hat it has been trying to narrow the ability of poor countries to introduce=
their own policies on issues affecting their economies. ?It is seeking mor=
e stringent rules on IP rights and competition in all developing countries,=
? he said. ?We are violently opposed to this.?</P><P>Paul Goodison from the=
European Research Office, which monitors trade between the EU and developi=
ng countries, said that the Commission?s market access strategy is designed=
to go beyond rules on barriers to trade, including those on intellectual p=
roperty, agreed at World Trade Organisation level. He believes that the Com=
mission is likely to seek similar provisions in further deals with potentia=
lly more lucrative markets, such as India or Brazil. </P><P>?The ACP countr=
ies are the weak underbelly,? he said. ?If they sign up to these provisions=
, then the Commission will be able to say ?if LDCs [least developed countri=
es] have agreed to these, why should Brazil be worried?? The Commission has=
extremely skilled negotiators and they understand this fully.?</P><P>But I=
lias Konteas from the employers lobby group Business Europe said the Commis=
sion?s approach is essentially correct.</P><P>?In principle, we feel that h=
aving strong IP enforcement systems put in place will also be for the benef=
it of developing countries,? he said. ?It will facilitate the transfer of t=
echnology from the Western world to these countries and have a positive eff=
ect in building up their innovative capacity.?</P><P><EM>David Cronin may b=
e reached at info@ip-watch.ch.</EM></P><BR></DIV><DIV><BR><BR>Alexandra&nbs=
p;Heumber<BR>EU Advocacy Liaison Officer<BR>M=E9decins =
Sans Fronti=E8res<BR>Access to Essential Medicines =
;Campaign<BR>Rue Dupr=E9, 94. 1090 Brussels<BR>++32&nbs=
p;(0) 2 474 75 09 (Dir off)<BR>++ 32&nbs=
p;(0) 479 514 900 (Mob)<BR>++ 32 (0) 2&n=
bsp;474 75 75 (Fax)<BR></DIV></DIV></FONT>=