Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - February 16, 2008
Apiradee Treerutkuarkul
Buntoon Wongseelashote, vice-chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce's committee specialising in international trade rules, said the possible loss of trade privileges under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme actually stems from the state's failure to suppress intellectual property rights (IPR) violations, involving pirated CDs and DVDs as well as other brand-name products.
The continuing high levels of IPR infringements have caused some $400 million in damages to the US business sector each year, he said.
Mr Buntoon asked the Intellectual Property Department to seriously enforce the existing Patent Act by taking tough action against the importers of pirated CDs and DVDs.
"The government is fixing trade problems at the wrong place by falsely blaming the CL policy and not tackling goods piracy. The chief of the Intellectual Property Department is aware that this is a fact," he said in a telephone interview.
Puangrat Asavapisit, chief of the Intellectual Property Department, late last month said she was informed that the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America had threatened to press Washington to take tougher action against Thailand if the government refused to abandon its compulsory licensing policy.
As soon as Public Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsab assumed office, he made clear his intention to review the policy for four lung and breast cancer medicines previously announced by his predecessor Mongkol Na Songkhla.
Dr Mongkol on Jan 4 approved compulsory licences on four medications - Letrozole, a breast cancer medicine produced by Swiss-based Novartis, the breast and lung cancer drug Docetaxel made by France-based Sanofi Aventis, and Swiss-based Roche's Erlotinib, used for treating lung, pancreatic and ovarian cancers. However, he reached a deal with Novartis over its leukaemia drug Imatinib as the patent holder agreed to supply it free to more than 900 patients under its philanthropic programme.
Mr Chaiya's move has upset the public sector as the National Health Security Office does not have a big enough budget to afford the costly cancer treatment drugs for 48 of the 64 million people listed under its universal healthcare coverage.
The Thai export sector is worried that if the government refuses to do away with the CL policy, more than 2,000 Thai products which are exported would lose the privileges they now enjoy under the low-tariff Generalised System of Preferences if and when the country is put on the Priority Foreign Country list.
They have urged the government to come up with measures to protect Thai businesses from US retaliation since 20% of Thai exports which go to the US, worth about US$4 billion, are exported under the GSP programme. They have also asked the government to subsidise drug purchases for the poor, instead of enforcing compulsory licensing.
After the country was placed on the Priority Watch List by the US Trade Representative under Section 301, hundreds of Thai products including jewellery, rubber, artificial flowers, television sets and shrimp exports faced the threat of losing the GSP benefits.
The GSP was designed to promote economic growth in the developing world, and provides preferential duty-free entry for more than 4,650 products from 143 countries and territories.
In related development, Public Health Ministry spokesman Suphan Srithamma said the ministry's representatives yesterday met health activists and the Network of HIV/Aids patients for talks and came to a resolution that Thailand's move to implement the CL policy was legitimate.
He said the ministry had negotiated with pharmaceutical firms 12 times over the issue, countering a claim by the industry that CL was prepared without its knowledge. He said the resolution would be forwarded to Prat Boonyawongwirote, permanent secretary for health and Mr Chaiya.
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