[Ip-health] SCRIP- India prepares for WTO complaint against EU seizures

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India prepares for WTO complaint against EU seizures
24 November 2009
Anju Ghangurde

India appears to be moving on its plans to file a formal complaint with
the World Trade Organization (WTO) against "illegal" seizures of Indian
consignments of generic medicines transiting through Europe.

India is said to have begun preparing the documentation to initiate
proceedings and expects to be in a position to file a case at the WTO by
February, according to a report in The Economic Times, which quoted an
unnamed official from the commerce ministry.

The official is also reported to have said that India will accept
nothing short of a change in the EU regulation 1383/2003, which is at
the centre of the controversy. Brazil is expected to support India's
challenge at the WTO. The two countries, supported by others, such as
China, previously complained at the WTO's TRIPS Council meeting in
Geneva in June (scripnews.com, June 10th, 2009).

Scrip recently reported the seizure in Paris of about 1.74 million
Macleods Pharmaceuticals clopidogrel tablets en route to Venezuela
(scripnews.com, November 3rd, 2009), the latest of many such known
seizures of Indian consignments transiting through Europe over alleged
violations of intellectual property rights.

sharing intellect

Significantly, India has also brought up the need for a balance in the
intellectual property (IP) system between effective incentives for
innovation and the diffusion of the benefits of such innovation.

India's minister of commerce and industry, Anand Sharma, stressed the
need to "share" intellect and knowledge for the betterment of humankind,
with specific reference to India's pharmaceutical industry, at a recent
international forum.

Mr Sharma told the 5th International Forum on Creativity and Inventions
- A Better Future for Humanity in the 21st Century in New Delhi - that
it was Indian generics that triggered the "ethical" debate that helped
bring down the prices of antiretrovirals for HIV/AIDS from more than
$11,000 per patient per year to $1,000 and now less than $400 per
patient for one year.

"This is called sharing in the correct manner," Mr Sharma said in his
speech, a recorded version of which has been accessed by Scrip. He also
referred to the "suffocating stranglehold" of multinational drug cartels
in antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS prior to that.

The minister also said that India had been helping and enabling poorer
nations, particularly in Africa, to bridge the digital divide through
the Pan African E-Network project by sharing Indian's knowledge in the
area of information technology. The project links institutes in various
African nations to leading Indian universities and medical institutions
and has helped bring about a revolution in tele-education and
tele-medicine, for instance. "This entire project is a gift of the
government and people of India," the minister said.

Mr Sharma also said that although he expected the US and Europe to
remain leaders in technology and innovation for a considerable time,
that did not mean that innovation and research was not taking place in
developing nations such as India, China and Brazil. "But gaps remain and
there are historical reasons for these," he said.

http://www.scripnews.com/policyregulation/India-prepares-for-WTO-complai
nt-against-EU-seizures-181270