[e-farmacos] Doha: novedades sobre las patentes

[e-farmacos@usa.healthnet.org]

E-farmacos:  Doha: novedades sobre las patentes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
[Reproducimos la nota de prensa sobre los ultimos acontecimientos
ocurridos en la reunion de Doha en relacion a los genericos. Parece que
finalmente las ONG y los paises en desarrollo han logrado la victoria.
El mensaje original aparecio en la lista de discusion 'e-drug'
(gracias!). Reproducimos el texto completo, a pesar de su extension, por
la importancia del tema. Disculpad que se incluya en su version 
original en ingles, AF]

[From: Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS report 13 Nov]

WTO Ministers to Vote on TRIPS Compromise That Allows Developing Nations
to Override Patents in Public Health Crises

A World Trade Organization ministerial working group meeting in Doha,
Qatar, is expected to approve today text that would allow WTO member
nations to use the flexibility of the Trade-Related Aspects of
International Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement to "ensure access to
medicines for all," BBC News reports (Schifferes, BBC News, 11/13).
Yesterday, WTO negotiators "all but clinched a deal" on the draft, which
"assure[s] developing countries that patent rules do not stand in the
way of producing or importing generic drugs when they face epidemic
health crises like AIDS and malaria," the New York Times reports (Kahn,
New York Times, 11/13). In addition, the draft also gives the poorest
countries a 10-year delay on the implementation of patent laws on
medicines and allows all countries the right to decide under what
circumstances they can override the patents of pharmaceutical companies
during public health crises (Winestock/Cooper, Wall Street Journal,
11/13). The text is expected to state that TRIPS "can and should be
interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of WTO members'
rights to protect public health and in particular to ensure access to
medicines for all" (BBC News, 11/13). However, the text refers the issue
of parallel importation, in which countries can import
generic versions of patented drugs, to a committee (Wall Street Journal,
11/13). India and Brazil, two countries that have lobbied to loosen
restrictions on patents for medicines, "appeared satisfied" by
the draft (New York Times, 11/13). Ministers are expected to formally
approve the text later today (BBC News, 11/13).


Brokering a Deal

The United States, which had initially opposed a proposal by 52
developing nations regarding TRIPS language, was "instrumental" in
developing the compromise. A U.S. trade official said that the United
States believed that settling the dispute over medicines and patents was
"necessary to 'create a positive dynamic'" at the meeting and to spur
talks on other trade issues (New York Times, 11/13). The Wall Street
Journal reports that the draft "shows how far the [WTO] has come" on the
issue of patent protection for medicines. Jamie Love,
director of the Consumer Project on Technology, said, "Two years ago,
you never could have got anything like this in the WTO. This is way
better than what was floated in Seattle" (Wall Street Journal, 11/13).
Ian Bray of Oxfam added that the agreement is "better than anyone could
have hoped for a year ago," but added that his group is "disappoint[ed]"
that there has been no agreement on the issue of generic importation
(BBC News, 11/13). Asia Russell of the Health GAP Coalition said, "This
is far from a 100% victory. But it leaves the
door open to further discussion, debate and pressure" (Reuters/
Baltimore Sun, 11/13). The pharmaceutical industry, however, "hit the
roof" after learning of the text's contents (Dougherty, Washington
Times, 11/13). Harvey Bale, a lobbyist for the International Federation
of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations, said, "This is a defeat
for drug companies doing research in AIDS, tuberculosis and the like"
(New York Times, 11/13). Bale said that developing a new AIDS drug can
cost $1 billion, and that weaker patent protection will
"kill incentives for research" into AIDS and other "controversial"
diseases (Washington Times, 11/13).

[from IP-Health, Jamie Love]

I have collected some quotes on the WTO declaration on TRIPS.    Jamie
Love.  Doha Cell +974.539.2726

----------------------
Views on the Draft Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health
4:30 pm, November 13, 2001, Doha

Michael Bailey OXFAM
Doha is a big step forward in the battle for affordable medicines. The
huge profile given to the issue changes the political climate, building
on the victories in the South Africa and Brazil cases. It will now be
much harder for the US and the drug companies to bully poor countries
over their patent policies. We would have liked to see a stronger
declaration but there is a clear political statement that the agreement
must be implemented in a way that promotes access to medicines. The next
step is to ensure that next year's scheduled review of the TRIPS
agreement takes a hard look at the length and scope of pharmaceutical
patents in developing countries, which remains the heart of the problem.


Cecilia Oh, Third World Network
The declaration (as it stands) is a good first step. The developed
countries, in agreeing to the declaration, have committed themselves to
this process. We want to see a commitment on their part, and their
pharmaceutical lobbies, to stop pressures on developing countries. The
developing countries can get down to the work of implementing and
enacting domestic measures, with the guarantee that there will not be
pressures or legal threats. 


Zafar Mirza, Health Action International and TheNetwork for Consumer
Protection in Pakistan.
It is a definite step forward though it could be stronger. The
declaration explicitly recognizes the issues as well as sovereignty of
the governments to take appropriate measures to get around to the
issues. A lot depends upon the countries now how they live up to the
expectations of the poor patients. The declaration also recognizes the
problems of countries with insufficient or no pharmaceutical
manufacturing capacity and also the limitation of the compulsory license
as solution to these problems. We hope General Counsel come up 
with a clear solution to this issue next year. Our challenge now is to
get this declaration translated into action, which can save lives.


James Love, Consumer Project on Technology
The Doha declaration on TRIPS is the strongest and most important
international statement yet on the need to refashion national patent
laws to protect public health interests.  It is a road map for using the
flexibility of the TRIPS to protect the public health, and sets a
standard to measure any new bilateral or regional trade agreement. The
declaration is a political statement that did not modify in any way the
TRIPS agreement, and the decision to settle for a political statement
was controversial in the negotiations.  The developing  countries had
asked for legally binding interpretations of the agreement, including a
solution to the single most obvious problem with the TRIPS, the Article
31.f limitations on exports of medicines manufactured under a
compulsory license.   We were disappointed the European and American
negotiators blocked agreement to use Article 30 of the TRIPS to export
medicines to countries that do not have domestic capacity for
manufacturing, but pleased this issue will be examined by the TRIPS
council in 2002.  The negotiation over the export of medicines
provisions in the TRIPS will be the next battleground in term of trade
policy.


Daniel Berman, MSF
Since Seattle there has been a seismic shift. Two years ago many
developing countries felt they were powerless against the will of the
wealthy countries and their drug companies. Here in Doha more than 80
countries came together and negotiated in mass. It was this solidarity
that led to a strong affirmation that TRIPS "can and  should be
interpreted and implemented in a manner .to protect public health." In
practical terms it means that countries are not at the mercy of
multinationals when they practice price gouging. The threat of punitive
action against a country that attempts to address its health needs has
been dramatically reduced. With this declaration it is doubtful that a
wealthy country would dare file a dispute against a developing country 
for using one of the safeguards such as compulsory licensing. Now patent
holders either offer prices that make their drugs accessible or risk
losing their monopoly rights. The victory in Doha is really for people
who need or will need access to life-saving or extending medicines.

Khalil, Elouardighi, Paris Act Up!
Like at the Health Ministerial in May 2001, The EC and the EU again fell
into this apparently spontaneous good cop/bad cop mode, with the US
opposing everything and the EU claiming to have no position of its own 
on the issues and to only want to help the opposed parties find a middle
ground, while in truth intensively watering down the developing
countries' proposals. Then the political need to come back from Doha
with some semblance of success made the Brazilian delegates cave in to
the rich countries' position and agree to forget legally binding wording
as well as clarification of exports for generic versions of patented
drugs.  India and the Africa group resisted a bit, but were not imparted
with enough political commitment to the issue to make
this a deal-breaker. The Africa group representative, and the African
delegates, did not realize the role and value of press work for
negotiation purposes, both in terms of contradicting rich countries'
propaganda and of holding North public opinions ransom for North
government's predictable efforts to renege on the spirit and/or letter
of the Doha Declaration. They waited until the last day to talk to the
press, instead of crying foul at the first immoral positions insisted
upon by developing countries. The chairman of the Africa Group did not 
answer when asked in press  conference whether it should be expected
that the hard-won right to effectively use compulsory licensing
provisions would be exercised by African countries in the short term, in
the context of the health crises currently obtaining on the continent,
and after the US and Pharma had told the press in the morning that the
Declaration didn't mean anything in the sense that it was purely
political, and that it did not really say  anything about how WTO would
react should patents broken. Where relation with the media is concerned,
developing countries seem  to show surprising naiveness about the
influence of the pharmaceutical industry over richest country
governments and their duplicity with regard to international agreements.
They should be briefed about negotiation techniques and the role of the
press therein.


Ellen 't Hoen, Medecins Sans Frontieres
This declaration is a major step forwards in the quest to ensure access
to medicines for all. The text that has been agreed upon now was 
unthinkable 6 months, 6 weeks, even 6 days ago. It states clearly that
there are serious conflicts between the obligations under the TRIPS
Agreement  and countries need to protect public health including
providing access to medicines, it states that countries have the right
to take measures to overcome patent barriers to public health and the
statement outlines clearly how countries can do this.  It is a missed
opportunity that this ministerial conference did not offer a solution
for countries without  production capacity that want to make use of
compulsory licensing . But we are confident that this issue will be
resolved in the next year in the TRIPS Council. Countries can ensure
access to medicines without fear of being dragged into a legal battle.
Now its up to governments to use this power to bring down the cost of
medicines and increase access to life-saving treatments.


Asia Russell, Health Gap Coalition and Act Up Philly
Developing countries came to Doha to extract a clear declaration that
public health and access to medicines are more important than protecting
the commercial interests of pharmaceutical companies.  At the end of the
day, opposition from rich countries crippled the legally binding
language sought by the majority of WTO countries."

Gaelle Krikorian, ACT UP Paris
Wealthy countries and drug companies refuse to compromise patent
monopolies in poor countries that have no domestic capacity. The
declaration does nothing to remedy this barrier. The majority of people
with AIDS and other treatable diseases live in these countries, so a
solution is critical.  The Ministerial Declaration merely acknowledges
the problem of exporting drugs to poor countries-rich countries stood in
the way of taking the actions that are desperately needed. 

Sharoann Lynch, Health Gap and Act Up NYC
Countries levying formal or informal pressure on poor countries that are
taking strides to increase drug access should face condemnation from WTO
members, because such pressure violates the spirit and terms of this
agreement.  Doha did not end the battle over poor country access to
drugs," Lynch continued. "Against the pressure of rich countries and
drug companies, the fight must continue to complete the unfinished work
of this Ministerial-millions of lives are at stake. We demand that the
WTO clarify during the first meeting of the TRIPS Council that nothing
in the TRIPS Agreement should stand in the way of countries exporting
cheap drugs to poor countries.

Jacques ARBI AKEREKORO, ARAMBE / KAFU-ATA- BENIN
The Doha declaration on TRIPS is a big step to Access to drugs for poor
countries. Now all African consumers are waiting to its real application
by our governments not only in term of access to HIV drugs but in order
to let their people have access to the others drugs chiefly those which
will be  discovered...The struggle for LIFE and Justice continues.

[NOTA: Mensaje sin acentos ni caracteres especiales.]
--
Para enviar un mensaje a e-farmacos, escriba a: e-farmacos@usa.healthnet.org
Para suscribirse o para borrarse de la lista, envíe un correo electronico a:
majordomo@usa.healthnet.org y en el cuerpo del mensaje escriba:
subscribe e-farmacos O BIEN unsubscribe e-farmacos
Para ponerse en contacto con una persona, envíe un mensaje a:
owner-e-farmacos@usa.healthnet.org
Informacion y archivos: http://www.healthnet.org/programs/efarmacos.html