AEGiS-WSJ: WTO Meeting Fails to Resolve Major Issues on Generic Drugs

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

WTO Meeting Fails to Resolve Major Issues on Generic Drugs

Wall Street Journal - November 18, 2002
Phillip Day, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

SYDNEY, Australia -- Trade ministers from rich and poor countries talked up the prospects of reaching a deal to give developing countries access to inexpensive drugs to fight AIDS and other diseases after a two-day meeting here. But the major questions -- which countries will qualify and which diseases will be covered -- have yet to be answered.

The issue has implications for global trade talks. Efforts to begin the current round were delayed after talks collapsed in Seattle in 1999, amid claims by developing countries that they had been on the losing end of earlier agreements. A second attempt to start the talks last year succeeded after wealthy countries promised that the current round would include a focus on developing-country issues.

A major concern among developing countries was that they be allowed to buy less-expensive generic copies of drugs to fight HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, as well as tuberculosis and malaria.

A promise to do so was included in the agreement that launched the current round of trade talks, but governments left the details to be worked out by a year-end deadline.

The Sydney meeting, which ended Friday, brought together ministers from 25 countries of the 144-member World Trade Organization in an attempt to speed up the talks on access to drugs, as well as a few other issues.

Ministers said the meeting was a success but it was clear the most-contentious issues remain. Ministers haven't agreed which countries will qualify to receive access to generic versions of drugs, for instance, and they haven't narrowed down which diseases will be covered under the plan.

Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said all sides agreed that HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria would be covered. But the U.S. and Europe as well as other nations with large pharmaceutical industries don't want the deal to cover diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

Other ministers called the talks a success because the meeting reaffirmed the commitment to finishing a deal by the original deadline of the end of this year.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said officials will continue to work on details during coming weeks.

"We're not there yet," he said Friday after the meeting. "I believe this is something we should do by the end of the year. I think it's something we can do by the end of the year."

But Nigerian Commerce Minister Mustafa Bello said a resolution by year's end isn't guaranteed. Mr. Bello said WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi has begun advising ministers regarding what parts of the drug package are most important if an overall agreement can't be reached by the deadline.

Failure to meet the year-end deadline for an agreement on the drugs issue could raise doubts about the 2005 deadline for the current round of trade talks.

A heavy police presence kept protesters from having a significant impact on the Sydney meetings. Police arrested about 55 protesters Thursday and Friday. Fewer than 500 protesters made it to the site of the talks at Sydney Olympic Park Friday after police closed the nearest train station.

Protest organizers had said they wanted 10,000 demonstrators on hand to show their opposition.

Write to Phillip Day at phillip.day@wsj.com

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