medicines
The RCEP Kobe conference is the first round of negotiations this year and the first since U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was canceling America’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The Kobe meeting will set the tone for the remaining negotiations this year, however NGO representatives, noted that the TPP would be the elephant in the room.
Concerns remain over the impact of RCEP negotiations on public health and access to medicines.
There is no principled basis for EU’s demand of extending patent protection beyond the period of 20 years.
The intellectual property provisions initiated by Japan and South Korea go far beyond the requirements needed under international trade rules.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership was dead long before Donald Trump signed his executive order. But its damaging aspects, like stringent IP provisions, have just migrated to other agreements
The pace of implementation of Indo-Japan free trade agreement needs to be further enhanced in order to exploit the huge potential of the pact, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
Novartis lodged a formal notice of dispute under the Switzerland-Colombia BIT.
Global pharmaceutical companies have successfully lobbied for longer monopolies in trade agreements which have delayed the availability of cheaper medicines, resulting in higher prices.
Canadian pharmaceutical patent owners can expect two substantive changes in the next year following implementation of the Canada–European Union trade agreement
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and other health groups have reiterated concerns about harmful intellectual property provisions in the RCEP
Threats to affordable access to medicines continue unabated
As trade negotiators from 16 countries gather in Indonesia to deliberate the terms of trade agreement — the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (RCEP), access to low-cost generic medicines is under grave threat.
MSF press release: RCEP trade deal negotiators must reject terms that would harm access to medicines
International medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), along with other health groups, reiterated concerns about harmful intellectual property provisions in the proposed agreement that would increase market monopolies for pharmaceutical corporations and delay or block access to affordable generic medicines.
CETA drug-patent extension applies only to new products, and higher costs are likely at least 8 years away
Experts have been warning for years that Canada’s trade deal with the European Union would add billions to the cost of pharmaceuticals in Canada, but the government itself apparently did not study the issue.
US reports that data exclusivity for biologics in Australia could still be extended to 12 years via the TPP trade deal have got local activists up in arms.
The Public Health Association (PHA) is asking the NZ government to step in and help our neighbouring countries negotiate better deals for life-saving medicines.
India and the US continued to differ on the issue of intellectual property rights (IPR) norms in their bilateral trade and investment policy discussions
Access to affordable medicine and farmers’ control over seeds could be undermined by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership being negotiated between Asean member countries and six other trade partners, says FTA Watch in Thailand
95 health, community and development organisations in the Asia Pacific region call on trade negotiators from sixteen countries in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement negotiations to ensure access to medicines is protected. We the undersigned organisations call on negotiators to protect health and reject all TRIPS plus intellectual property measures in the RCEP.
bilaterals.org team, Jan 2021