Policy recommendations

  • In its trade and industrial policies, the EU should take account of its development and public health commitments. Possible impact on developing countries of actions in the trade and industry domains should be assessed thoroughly and impact studies of civil society should be taken into account in a serious manner. The current belief in IPR as a tool for development and the policy coherence in this field should be reassessed objectively and discussed with civil society in a transparent manner.
  • The European Union should refrain from pursuing the inclusion of TRIPS+, WTO+ and even EU+ provisions designed to protect intellectual property rights in any bilateral or multilateral trade agreements with developing countries (including those not defined as LDCs).
  • The EU should not limit, and instead encourage, the efforts of developing countries to use (TRIPS) flexibilities as a public health strategy. In addition it should lobby for the compulsory licence for developing countries without production facilities to be made valid for all similar countries at once (including non-LDC developing countries) and (considering the limits) for other initiatives to be developed, such as patent pools. The EU should actively stand up to European pharmaceutical companies that try to limit the use of compulsory licensing in developing countries.
  • The EU should ensure its interests in enforcement and developments in ACTA will not hamper trade in generic medicine or lead to any more seizures of these. In particular it should not demand adoption of current EU or EU+ enforcement rules, such as border measures, to be introduced in developing countries. 
  • The European Parliament should adopt a Resolution on these recommendations with a view to affirming the ECs commitments to Health and Development, as well as demand  its right of access to all negotiation documents (such as ACTA) and the use of co-decision power to prevent the EU from pursuing agreements that can damage public health.

 

Case: TRIPs & Access to Medicines

19-10-2009 Oxfam and HAI report critices EU for "trading away access to medicine"

On the 19th of October Oxfam International and Health Action International (HAI) have published a critical report on EU policies that undermine the the right to health in developing countries. The clear incoherence between the EU pursuing trade agendas in favor of its pharmaceutical industry on the one hand and the support to the DOHA declaration and other efforts of the EC in improving access to health care in developing countries on the other hand, is strongly emphasised. At the same time, the EU does not do enough to support the medical innovation needed.

Criticising the introduction of TRIPs-plus rules in (free) trade agreements with developing countries, the exertion of bilateral pressure to prevent these countries from using TRIPs public health safeguards to reduce medicine prices, and the introduction of a new global framework to enforce IP rules that has been seen to result in seizures of legal generic medicines for poor countries, the report suggests a set of recommendations. The honouring of commitments under the MDGs, Doha Declaration on TRIPs and Public Health, as well as the relevant World Health Assembly resolutions should form the starting point in this.

Click here for the full report.