PHA-Exchange> Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) Threats to Access to Affordable Medicines and Social Services to the Poor

[claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn]

From: "Bala" <bala at haiap.org>

United Nations Children's Committee Warns About FTA Threats to
Access to Affordable Medicines and Social Services for the Poor

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in recommendations made public 
this week warned
that Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) may negatively affect access to affordable 
medicines and
social services for the poor.

The Committee raised these concerns as a number of the countries monitored at 
its 39th Session,
from 16 May -3 June 2005, are either planning, negotiating or in the process 
of ratifying FTAs.
These countries include Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua and the Philippines.

The Committee monitors the application of the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child – the most
widely applicable human rights treaty in the world.  All countries have 
ratified it, apart from the US
and Somalia.

States have an obligation to take into account the best interests of the child 
at all levels of 
decision-
making, including trade policy, and are required to fulfil their obligations 
under the Convention.
These obligations include access to affordable medicines and health care 
services, under the child’s
right to health (article 24) and the child’s right to life (article 6).

It is important that civil society encourage States negotiating trade 
agreements to take into account
their human rights obligations at all times.

1. Costa Rica and Nicaragua: ratification of US-DR-CAFTA must not undermine
children’s rights
Costa Rica and Nicaragua are countries that have signed, but not yet ratified, 
the US - Central
American Free Trade Agreement (US-DR-CAFTA). Other parties to this FTA include 
the
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

During the consideration of Nicaragua, the Committee raised concerns about the 
impact of
intellectual property (IP) rules in the FTA on the cost of medicines and 
requested that Nicaragua
“ensure that the Free Trade Agreements do not negatively affect the rights 
of children, e.g. in terms
of access to affordable medicines.”

Regarding Costa Rica, the Committee experts asked whether there had been an 
impact assessment
of the US-DR CAFTA on the enjoyment of children’s rights. Costa Rica replied 
that a national
consultation open to all stakeholders will be organized to assess the impact 
of the FTA.  They
affirmed that if the FTA has no positive effect on social concerns, it will 
not be ratified.  Costa 
Rica
said that it would provide the Committee with written information on the 
results of the impact
assessment.

  2. Ecuador: US-Andean FTA negotiations must take into account access to 
affordable
medicines and social services
Ecuador is negotiating a US-Andean FTA, which includes Peru and Colombia. The 
Committee was
concerned that proposed IP rules may undermine the ability of States to ensure 
access to affordable
medicines and comply with their obligations under human rights law. The 
Committee was also
concerned that FTAs “may also negatively impact the allocation of budgets 
for social services.”

In view of this, the Committee strongly urged Ecuador to “ensure that Free 
Trade Agreements do
not negatively affect the rights of children, inter alia, in terms of access 
to affordable medicines,
including generic ones. In this regard, the Committee reiterates the 
recommendations made by the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/1/Add.100).”

These recommendations referred to were made in June 2004 by another UN 
Committee, urging
Ecuador to “conduct an assessment of the effect of international trade rules 
on the right to health
for all and to make extensive use of the flexibility clauses permitted in the 
WTO Agreement on
Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement) in 
order to ensure
access to generic medicine and more broadly the enjoyment of the right to 
health for everyone in
Ecuador.”

3. The Philippines: any future FTA negotiation must not undermine access to
affordable medicines
The Philippines is negotiating a number of trade agreements and is planning to 
negotiate a US-
Philippines FTA.  If negotiations do take place with the US, there is a high 
risk that strict IP rules
will be imposed that will undermine the Filipino government’s ability to 
ensure access to
affordable medicines.

Taking this into account, the Committee strongly urged the Filipino government 
to “make use – in
the negotiations of a Free Trade Agreement – of all the flexibilities 
reaffirmed by the Doha
Declaration and the mechanisms at its disposal to ensure access to affordable 
medicines in
particular for the poor and most vulnerable children and their parents.”

------------
For more information, contact Davinia Ovett, 3D -> Trade-Human Rights-
Equitable Economy, info at 3dthree.org 

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