Inter Press Service - June 22, 2001
Gustavo Capdevila

The WTO body specialising in the matter agreed to examine - over the next few months - the aspects of the multilateral trade system that have an impact on how developing countries deal with their public health crises.

The discussion is to continue within the Council of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), a WTO treaty that covers patent rights, including those for pharmaceuticals.

Boniface Chidyausiku, president of the TRIPS Council, announced that the body would meet again on July 25 and he convened another special session on the trade-pharmaceutical debate for Sept 19.

The council is to determine how much flexibility the TRIPS agreement grants developing countries in applying their national public health policies without violating intellectual property norms established by the WTO.

The discussions will take into account the possibility that the WTO ministerial conference, to be held in Doha, Qatar, in November, could emit a specific declaration on the matter.

The problem of patents and developing countries' access to low- cost medications reached international notoriety in recent months as a result of the international legal claims filed against South Africa and Brazil.

South Africa was the legal target of 39 pharmaceutical transnationals that questioned the compliance with international law of Pretoria's policies on medications, especially those for treating HIV/AIDS.

The transnationals ultimately withdrew their lawsuit as a result of an intense international campaign led by the non- governmental organisations (NGOs) Oxfam, Doctors without Borders, Third World Network and Consumers International.

In the second case, the United States brought a lawsuit against Brazil before the WTO for the alleged inconsistency of Brazilian legislation on pharmaceuticals with multilateral trade rules. This action is currently underway within the WTO Dispute Settlement Body.

The precedents set by these lawsuits led a bloc of developing countries to demand that the WTO clarify the extent of the flexibility in interpreting certain TRIPS provisions that allow these nations to dictate policies for protecting the health of their populations.

At Wednesday's special session of the TRIPS Council, Tadeus Chifamba, a Zimbabwean diplomat speaking on behalf of the African bloc, stressed that 11 million people die each year, mainly in developing countries, from infectious diseases that are preventable or treatable.

In a clear reference to the lawsuit against Brazil, the delegations of nearly 50 developing countries joined forces in calling for a resolution that enforces a moratorium on member states taking legal action within the WTO on cases involving TRIPS and public health.

TRIPS Council president Chidyausiku commented that differences in point of view exist among the WTO's 140 member states, but added that "all are determined to ensure that the TRIPS agreement is part of the solution and not part of the problem of meeting the public health crises in poor countries."

Cecilia Oh, of the Third World Network, maintained that the WTO must take immediate action on the demand for a moratorium.

"There is a consensus between the developing countries that there must be action by the Doha ministerial conference," stated the Malaysian activist who is monitoring the TRIPS Council sessions on access to low-costs medicines, as are other NGOs.

These civil society groups pointed out that the United States continues to be a "stumbling block" for the debate, but that they are encouraged by the attitude taken by other countries, such as Norway.

Oh said that the European Union (EU) "has now taken a more positive approach than its position a year ago... but did not put all their cards on the table."

The NGOs announced they would be closely following the upcoming discussions within the TRIPS Council and "will be watching and monitoring the position that the EU and United States take in the informal consultations in July and September." (END/IPS/tra-so/pc/mj/ld/01)
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