Associated Press - Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Naomi Koppel, Associated Press Writer

The diplomat leading the talks at the WTO, Singapore's Ambassador Vanu Gopala Menon, said five key countries which have been locked in negotiations -- including the United States -- have agreed on a text for an accord.

Menon said he planned shortly to table a document for consideration by all the remaining 141 WTO member nations, but noted that their delegations will need time to consult with their governments before a final deal can be reached.

WTO members have been deadlocked on the issue since December because of opposition from the United States -- a situation that provoked criticism from pressure groups that the WTO puts corporate profits in rich countries ahead of the suffering and death of people in poor ones.

Negotiators from the United States, Brazil, India, Kenya and South Africa have been working on a "chairman's statement" that would accompany last year's agreement and would set out how the measure would be used, to calm the fears of drug companies.

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier, in Geneva for the trade talks, didn't want to discuss what an agreement on the drug matter might look like.

"We are still working very intensively on that," Allgeier said during a telephone conference call with reporters. "Because it is so sensitive, I don't want to speculate on what solution might emerge."

He said negotiators are trying to find the proper balance between helping emerging countries obtain drugs to combat public health crises and protecting pharmaceutical companies' intellectual property rights.

"Finding the right balance is what these negotiations are all about," he said. "So, we've got to find this right balance. That is what people are working very hard on."

Asked whether negotiators would have an agreement by the time ministers meet in Cancun, Allgeier said "yes."

During breaks in the talks earlier Wednesday, developing countries said they were ready to agree.

"We have considered it very carefully and ... at this stage I feel that the text is moving in the right direction," said South African envoy Faizal Ismail Wednesday afternoon.

"It has addressed some of the key concerns that we had from the beginning. It is close to an acceptable basis for resolution," he added.

"I haven't received my instructions from Nairobi, but I am predisposed" to accept it, said Kenyan Ambassador Amina Chawahir Mohamed.

Failure to reach agreement this week would throw a huge cloud over a crucial meeting of trade ministers from the WTO's 146 members in Cancun, Mexico, in two weeks and would jeopardize the chance of delegates reaching agreement on other issues as part of the current "round" of trade liberalization negotiations.

"We need to get this off the table before Cancun so we can focus on other important issues," Mohamed added.

Brazil's ambassador, Luis Felipe de Seixas Correa, would only say that his delegation is "working on it."

WTO rules already allow countries facing public health crises to override patents and order their drugs from cheaper, generic suppliers. But they can only order from domestic manufacturers, which is of no use for the majority of poor nations that have no pharmaceuticals industries.

U.S. pharmaceutical companies have been jittery about a deal to allow countries to import generic drugs because they fear that products destined for poor nations could end up being smuggled back into rich countries, cutting into their profits.

They also fear that generic manufacturers in large developing countries like Brazil and India could use the agreement to boost their own profits rather than acting out of humanitarian intentions.

A leaked copy of the draft declaration, dated Tuesday and obtained by journalists Wednesday, said that overriding patents "should be used in good faith to protect public health ... not be an instrument to pursue industrial or commercial policy objectives."

It called for special measures to prevent drugs being smuggled back to rich country markets, including special packaging or different colored tablets.

Developed countries would agree not to make use of the provision. Some of the richest developing nations would only use the measure in "situations of national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency," it added.

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