The seventh round of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement have kick started in Thailand yesterday.
Started in May 2013, the RCEP is being negotiated between the 10 ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries and Australia, China,
India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
The fourth meeting of the RCEP Working Group on Intellectual Property
(WGIP) is on this week’s agenda.
Leaked text of draft IP chapter tabled by Japan pushing for harmful
provisions that go beyond WTO trade rules and aim at restricting the
ability of governments to take decisions in the interest of the public
health and delay the availability of low-cost generic versions of
medicines. Leaked text uploaded on Knowledge Ecology International website
can be read here: http://keionline.org/sites/default/files/RCEP_WGIP_JP_Revised_Draft_Text_3Oct2014.pdf
Japan, a close ally of the US in the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement
(TPP) negotiations is pushing for “IP provisions” that undermine and delay
access to affordable generic medicines. Harmful IP provisions tabled by
Japan include dilution of patentability criteria, data exclusivity, patent
term extension and IP enforcement measures that target legitimate generic
medicines. These provisions, if accepted would serve to extend monopoly
protection beyond what is required by international trade rules and to
create new kinds of monopolies, even after patent-based monopolies have
expired or where they never existed. The IP Enforcement provisions would
open the door to abusive practices from multinational pharmaceutical
corporations, by allowing medicines to be delayed, seized, detained and
destroyed.
This is especially a matter of concern because the RCEP agreement includes
India. India, with a robust generics pharmaceutical industry is a key
supplier of low cost medicines medicines, including over 80 per cent of all
HIV medicines used in developing countries, is known as the ‘pharmacy of
the developing world’.
DNP+ response to RCEP negotiations on Intellectual Property ongoing in
Thailand
“We are extremely worried; people living with HIV across the world are
benefiting from low cost, quality medicines supplied by generic companies
in India. Japan is attacking this lifeline by pushing for harmful IP
provisions in FTA negotiations with India. We call on the Indian government
to stand firm against inclusion of such provisions in the any trade
agreement that could shut down India as the ‘pharmacy of the developing
world’.”
Vikas Ahuja, President, the Delhi Network of Positive People (DNP+)
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