[Ip-health] PharmaTimes- EU pledge to India over drug seizures

[Terri - Louise Beswick]

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EU pledge to India over drug seizures
07 September 2009

The European Commission has told India it will take steps to end the
seizures of Indian-made generic drugs at EU ports, but would prefer not
to do so through a legal battle at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Commission is aware that this issue has to be dealt with, but
whether this is to be achieved through making changes to the EU customs
regulations, improving customs practice or by other means has yet to be
looked at, said European Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton, speaking
in New Delhi at the weekend.

Commissioner Ashton told journalists that India has not previously
discussed any formal complaint with the Commission about the seizures of
Indian-manufactured generic drugs, which have been taking place while
they were in transit in European ports on their way to Third World
countries, and have followed allegations by patentholders that the drugs
were in fact counterfeit.

She also said there have been discussions with EU member states about
the problem and that the Commission and her "technical people" have
"some ideas" about how to deal with the problem without going through
the WTO legal process. However, she stressed that if the Indian
government was not satisfied with the measures which the Commission will
propose for ending the seizures, it could request a dispute settlement
panel at the WTO.

The Commissioner was in New Delhi at the weekend for an informal
ministerial meeting of the WTO, and her comments came after sideline
discussions on the seizures with India's Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.
Before meeting Ms Ashton, Mr Sharma stressed that the government would
be firm on the issue, and added that the "great job" done by Indian
drugmakers in ensuring that people across the globe have access to cheap
life-saving medicines may not have been appreciated.

By Lynne Taylor

http://www.pharmatimes.com/WorldNews/article.aspx?id=16531