A petition created by the Working Group of Intellectual Property (GTPI) of
the Brazilian Network for the Integration of People (REBRIP) entitled
“Civil Society Against the EU-India Free Trade Agreement” was supported by
651 persons from several places of the world. This petition manifests
concern about the negative consequences of the proposed India-EU FTA for
the procurement of cheaper generic Indian medicines, which are important
for the sustainability of policies for guaranteed access to medicines in
Brazil and other Latin American countries. The petition is going to be
sent to the European Commission, European Parliament and the Indian
Embassy in Brazil.
In another move, Indian civil society and public health groups today
submitted a joint letter signed by several organisations and individuals
to the Government of India protesting against the FTA and demanding that
it hold public consultations on FTAs it is negotiating, including the
India-EU FTA.
India is currently negotiating several FTAs, most importantly with the EU,
Japan, and the European Free Trade Association, that are likely to
drastically reduce access to newer medicines for people living with HIV,
cancer and other diseases, both in India and other developing countries.
Limited access to leaked draft documents make clear that India’s trading
partners in the North would like India to dramatically expand intellectual
property protection, well beyond those required under India’s current
international obligations, including the Trade Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. For instance, the
European Union is attempting to restrict use of TRIPS-flexibilities and
pushing for TRIPS-plus provisions—such as patent term extensions, data
exclusivity, patent linkages and additional border measures that may block
the free transit of medicines—which will delay entry of generics medicines
into the market. India’s present patent law was crafted specifically to
ensure both access to medicines and TRIPS-compliance. If India agrees to
any of the demands of the developed countries, it will have an impact on
access to medicines—not only for patients in India, but in developing
countries as far as Brazil. Indian generic pharmaceutical companies
provide low-cost, high quality generic drugs to large parts of the
developing world and numerous international drug dispensing programmes.
On 12 March 2010, after a protest outside the Ministry of Commerce, Indian
civil society actors met with Indian government officials from the
Ministry of Commerce who promised to hold a civil society consultation on
all IP issues in FTA currently under negotiation.
Loon Gangte, Delhi Network of Positive People, said, “Governments should
not enter into any agreements that will increase intellectual property
standards, and decrease access to essential medicines. TRIPS already has a
negative impact on access to medicines. FTAs will further erode
accessibility and put these life-saving medicines beyond the grasp of
millions, not only in India, but the entire developing world. Patients in
other developing countries have already told me about the painful impact
they are facing because of such FTAs.”
According to Veriano Terto Jr., executive coordinator of the Brazilian
GTPI, “Indian generic medicines are largely used by Brazilian AIDS
patients. The continuous production and supply of these medicines without
additional patent barriers in India are vital to the sustainability of the
Brazilian access to medicines. We recognise that Indian generic versions
play an important role in the price negotiations in the world. They are
also key to promote price competition and broader access to treatment in
the developing countries. The EU intellectual property policies through
the FTA in negotiation with India represents additional obstacles for
universal access to medicines in a global perspective. Furthermore, the
Brazilian civil society is following with special interest the EU
negotiations with India, because there FTA negotiations are also ongoing
between EU and MERCOSUL, which could impose restrictions to the access to
medicines in the region.”
Pointing out that India’s constitutional and international human rights
obligations would be compromised by such agreements, Prathibha S, Lawyers
Collective HIV/AIDS Unit, India, said, “These FTAs push TRIPS-plus
provisions, such as data exclusivity, patent linkages, and patent-term
extensions and also restrict TRIPS flexibilities. They infringe upon
national sovereignty by effectively legislating India public health policy
from abroad without taking into account India’s obligations under its
Constitution and international human rights instruments.”
The most troubling aspect of these negotiations is the complete lack of
transparency on the part of both the Indian and partnering governments.
Negotiators on both sides have consistently met in secret. While civil
society and public health groups have not been invited to these meetings,
industry groups have been allowed a seat at the table effectively making
guaranteeing an outcome that will turn back a decade’s worth of hard
fought gains in access to medicines.
Mani Kandan, Programme Officer, Centre for Education and Communication and
a member of Forum Against FTA, “No consultations with civil society, trade
unions, farmers, and other stakeholders have been held. There has been
great secrecy surrounding the FTA text. The right of millions of people to
access low cost, high quality medicines is being bargained away without
even the smallest amount of input from the most affected persons.
Democratic accountability requires that these negotiations take place in
the open, with draft documents available to the public, so that
non-industry groups may contribute to these laws which will greatly affect
them.”
Civil society and patient’s groups from India, Brazil and across the world
demand that the European Union and others to withdraw their expansionist
intellectual property demands. It is their obligation under the Doha
Declaration and international human rights law to refrain from promoting
policies that will deny millions of suffering people access to medicines
they require. At the same time, it is hoped that the Government of India
which, in 2005, heeded calls from patients in developing countries and
introduced historic public health safeguards in its patent law, will do so
again and demonstrate its commitment to patients over profit. A first
step towards this would be holding public consultations with civil society
stakeholders and opening up the negotiations to public scrutiny.
For more information, contact
Brazilian Working Group of Intellectual Property
Francisco Viegas Neves da Silva
Tel: +55 21 2223-1040
Email: francisco@abiaids.org.br
Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit, India
Prathibha S and Mihir Mankad (New Delhi): 011 4680 5555
Julie George (Mumbai): 022 2287 5482 / 3
Ramya S (Bengaluru): 080 4123 9130 / 31
Email: aidslaw@lawyerscollective.org
Elisa Baldini
EU Policy Advocacy Assistant
Médecins Sans Frontières
Access to Essential Medicines Campaign
Rue Dupré, 94
1090 Bruxelles
tel: +32 (0) 2 474 75 09
elisa.baldini@msf.org
www.msfaccess.org