PHA-Exchange> WTO Set to Approve Generic-Drug Rules for Poor Countries

[Claudio]

> Associated Press
> GENEVA -- The World Trade Organization settled its
> most emotive dispute when the U.S. ended its holdout
> and accepted a deal to allow poor countries to import
> cheap copies of patented drugs for killer diseases
> such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
> 
> The trade body's council on intellectual property
> adopted a document first proposed last December that
> will let developing countries ignore some patent rules
> in importing drugs from cheaper generic manufacturers.
> 
> To satisfy the concerns of the U.S. and its
> pharmaceutical industry, the document is accompanied
> by a new paper setting out conditions for the use of
> the measure.
> 
> The decision must be given the green light by a formal
> meeting of the WTO General Council, expected to take
> place very quickly Thursday.
> 
> The U.S. until now has been concerned that the deal
> could lead to smuggling and, in turn, mean
> pharmaceutical companies would lose the incentive to
> research new treatments.
> 
> The U.S. action provoked criticism from pressure
> groups that the WTO puts corporate profits in rich
> countries ahead of the suffering and death of people
> in poor ones.
> 
> Under WTO rules, countries facing public-health crises
> have the right to override patents on vital drugs and
> order copies from cheaper, generic suppliers. However,
> until now they could only order from domestic
> producers -- useless for the huge majority of
> developing countries that have no domestic
> pharmaceutical industry.
> 
> U.S. pharmaceutical firms were concerned a deal to
> allow countries to import generic drugs would be
> abused by generics manufacturers and could also lead
> to drugs being smuggled back into rich countries.
> 
> The new statement says rules allowing countries to
> override patents "should be used in good faith to
> protect public health ... not be an instrument to
> pursue industrial or commercial policy objectives."
> 
> It calls for special measures to prevent drugs being
> smuggled back to rich country markets, including
> special packaging or different colored tablets.
> Developed countries would agree not to make use of the
> provision. Some of the wealthiest developing nations
> would only use the measure in "situations of national
> emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency,"
> it added.
> 
> But the aid group Oxfam said the deal would be a
> "disaster."
> 
> "This would be a travesty of an agreement that would
> no doubt be presented as wonderful thing for
> development," said Oxfam's head of advocacy in Geneva,
> Celine Charveriat. "The text contains so much red tape
> and so many obstacles that if it were accepted
> developing countries would still struggle to get
> access to cheap medicines and thousands of people
> would continue to die unnecessarily."
> 
> Failure to reach agreement this week would have thrown
> a huge cloud over a crucial meeting of trade ministers
> from the WTO's 146 members in Cancun, Mexico, in two
> weeks and would have jeopardized the chance of
> delegates reaching agreement on other issues as part
> of the current "round" of trade-liberalization
> negotiations. 
>