PHA-Exch> Last call: Stop secret treaty threatening generic drugs (ACTA)

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Sarah Rimmington srimmington at essentialinformation.org

We now have 106 endorsements (65 organizations and 41 individuals) for
the sign-on letter re the Anti-Counterfeiting treaty, which may threaten
access to generic meds globally. The list is below the intro note and
draft letter, below. If you would like to endorse the letter, please
send me a note by Monday September 8, 2008 (or even very early Tuesday
morning, EST)! We accept organizational and individual endorsements.

Sarah
--

Dear Friends,

The United States, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Canada,
Mexico, Australia and New Zealand are now negotiating a new treaty known
as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

The text of what they are negotiating remains secret, but there's a lot
to be worried about. An over-reaching treaty in this field could
undermine access to low-cost generic medicines, require Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) to monitor all consumers' Internet communications, and
interfere with fair use of copyrighted materials, among many other dangers.

Does the proposed ACTA contain provisions that would result in these
harmful effects?

There's no way to know, because the treaty text remains secret. There is
no legitimate rationale for such secrecy, which denies people around the
world an opportunity to comment on and influence the negotiations.

We are asking organizations and individuals from around the world to
sign on to a letter to ACTA negotiators, asking that they immediately
make public the draft text of the treaty. The text of the letter, with
initial signatories, is below.

If you would like to sign the letter, please send your name, affiliation
(if any), city/country and email address to Sarah Rimmington of
Essential Action at: <srimmington at essentialinformation.org>. Please
specify if you are signing in your individual capacity or on behalf of
an organization. **Pleaase note: Our deadline for accepting signatures
is Monday August 8, 2008.**

For open and accountable government,

Robert Weissman and Sarah Rimmington,
Essential Action

---

For more on ACTA, see:

<http://www.keionline.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=187>

<http://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/acta>

<
https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr009=m5722xgyi2.app2a&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=383
>

<http://ipjustice.org/wp/campaigns/acta/>

<http://www.michaelgeist.ca/tags/acta>

---

LETTER TO ANTI-COUNTERFEITING TRADE AGREEMENT NEGOTIATORS

Dear [Negotiator],

We are writing to urge the negotiators of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
Agreement to agree to publish immediately the draft text of the
agreement, as well as pre-draft discussion papers (especially for
portions for which no draft text yet exists), before continuing further
discussions over the treaty. We ask also that you publish the agenda for
negotiating sessions and treaty-related meetings in advance of such
meetings, and publish a list of participants in the negotiations.

There is no legitimate rationale to keep the treaty text secret, and
manifold reasons for immediate publication.

The trade in products intended to deceive consumers as to who made them
poses important but complicated public policy issues. An overbroad or
poorly drafted international instrument on counterfeiting could have
very harmful consequences. Based on news reports and published material
from various business associations, we are deeply concerned about
matters such as whether the treaty will:

* Require Internet Service Providers to monitor all consumers' Internet
communications, terminate their customers' Internet connections based on
rights holders' repeat allegation of copyright infringement, and divulge
the identity of alleged copyright infringers possibly without judicial
process, threatening Internet users' due process and privacy rights; and
potentially make ISPs liable for their end users' alleged infringing
activity;

* Interfere with fair use of copyrighted materials;

* Criminalize peer-to-peer file sharing;

* Interfere with legitimate parallel trade in goods, including the
resale of brand-name pharmaceutical products;

* Impose liability on manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients
(APIs), if those APIs are used to make counterfeits -- a liability
system that may make API manufacturers reluctant to sell to legal
generic drug makers, and thereby significantly damage the functioning of
the legal generic pharmaceutical industry;

* Improperly criminalize acts not done for commercial purpose and with
no public health consequences; and

* Improperly divert public resources into enforcement of private rights.

Because the text of the treaty and relevant discussion documents remain
secret, the public has no way of assessing whether and to what extent
these and related concerns are merited.

Equally, because the treaty text and relevant discussion documents
remain secret, treaty negotiators are denied the insights and
perspectives that public interest organizations and individuals could
offer. Public review of the texts and a meaningful ability to comment
would, among other benefits, help prevent unanticipated pernicious
problems arising from the treaty. Such unforeseen outcomes are not
unlikely, given the complexity of the issues involved.

The lack of transparency in negotiations of an agreement that will
affect the fundamental rights of citizens of the world is fundamentally
undemocratic. It is made worse by the public perception that lobbyists
from the music, film, software, video games, luxury goods and
pharmaceutical industries have had ready access to the ACTA text and
pre-text discussion documents through long-standing communication channels.

The G8's recent Declaration on the World Economy implored negotiators to
include ACTA negotiations this year. The speed of the negotiations makes
it imperative that relevant text and documents be made available to the
citizens of the world immediately.

We look forward to your response, and to working with you toward
resolution of our concerns.

Sincerely,

[List in Formation]
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