The Delhi Network of Positive People (DNP+) & International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC)
Contact: loon_gangte@yahoo.com/+91- 9871029514
The eighth round of negotiation for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership[1] (RCEP) trade agreement is taking place in Kyoto, Japan and negotiators are meeting to discuss intellectual property provisions. That Japan is representing the private interests of pharmaceutical companies by pushing TRIPS-plus intellectual property (IP) provisions in RCEP negotiations is evident.
For anyone looking for proof, one has to look only at Japan’s RCEP IP proposal, dated October 4, 2014 and leaked in February 2015[2], to verify actual demands for diluting safeguards against evergreening of patents, border measures that intend to block trade in legitimate generic medicines, and TRIPS-plus provisions such as data exclusivity and patent term extensions.
RCEP can be compared to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), except that rather than being driven by the United States; it is being driven by Japan. Its proposal on the IP chapter is turning out as a carbon copy of the TPP – which is is on track to become the most harmful trade pact ever for access to medicines in developing countries.
IP provisions in the Japanese proposal go beyond the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement and the domestic laws of many of the countries included in the RCEP negotiations, particularly India, which is a major producer and supplier of essential medicines at affordable prices across the developing world.
Our experience around the world shows that treatment programs – and our lives – depend on the availability of quality and affordable generic medicines from India. Competition among generic producers in India has brought the price of medicines to treat diseases such as HIV, hepatitis and cancer down by more than 90 per cent.
The Government of India (DIPP) should work to ensure that the RCEP does not impose ‘TRIPS-plus’ IP standards on developing countries. RCEP must preserve and affirm countries’ ability to use legal flexibilities under the TRIPS Agreement and the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health.
We believe that given the significant public interest issues at stake, there is a need for greater transparency from India and other countries involved in RCEP negotiations. Fast-tracking RCEP negotiations would undermine generic competition from India and cost our government more, all to the benefit of pharmaceutical companies’ monopolies and profits.
As people living with HIV, we request that India reject the inclusion of IP provisions that threatens our most basic of human rights – the right to life.
Vikas Ahuja, President, Delhi Network of Positive People
Loon Gangte, International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) – South Asia
Contact: loon_gangte@yahoo.com/+91- 9871029514
[1] Started in May 2013, the RCEP is being negotiated between the 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries and Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
[2] Available: http://keionline.org/sites/ default/files/RCEP_WGIP_JP_ Revised_Draft_Text_3Oct2014. pdf
