European Union-India Summit is taking place in New Delhi. One of the subjects on the agenda is the ongoing negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement. Also today, a number of Thai NGOs have addressed an open letter to the Ambassador of the European Union David LIPMAN raising concerns over the impact that a possible EU-India Free Trade Agreement might have on the access developing countries have to 'generic' medicines. In response to these concerns, Ambassador David LIPMAN has issued the following statement.
'The EU is fully committed to ensuring access to essential, affordable medicines especially for the less developed parts of the world. The concerns about such access are certainly legitimate but the allegations put forward are not fully founded with regard to the reality of our negotiations with India (and other developing countries).
The EU fully recognizes India's right to issue compulsory licensing for medicines and has no intention of weakening India's capacity to manufacture and export medicines to other developing countries, including Thailand.
On the contrary, the EU has put forward a clause in the negotiations to ensure that nothing in the proposed agreement would limit India's freedom to produce and export medicines in accordance with the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement and the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health, notably through compulsory licensing (compulsory licensing is when a government allows someone else to produce the patented product or process without the consent of the patent owner).
Furthermore, the EU-India FTA will not interfere with the trade of generic medicines in transit. As regards the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), we believe that it can contribute to curbing the trade and sale of counterfeited medicines (often toxic or ineffective at best) and therefore support public health objectives. Parties to this agreement, including Thailand have already publicly declared that ACTA will not hinder the cross-border transit of legitimate generic medicines.
An adequate protection of intellectual property is crucial to encourage an innovative industry for the development of new medicines and to create a level playing-field for the industry as a whole, while also taking into account interests related to public health protection. Promoting access to medicines is an essential pillar of the EU's policy on intellectual property rights and this is taken fully into account in the negotiations with India and other trading partners.
The IPR chapter of the FTA with India is still under negotiation and the final outcome will only include elements both parties agree on. The EU remains open to engage in constructive dialogue with civil society organisations and other stakeholders in the framework of its external trade policy.'
Interested media please contact Ms. Kullwadee Sumalnop, [email protected], 02.305.2644