Image: EFF (CC-BY)
In Peru, there is an internal confrontation between ministries due to the data protection provisions of the TPP. The Ministry of Health opposes to the extension on data protection due to the effects than it can have on access over medicines for Peruvians, as many international organizations such as Medicos Sin Fronteras have claimed. Nonetheless, the Ministry of Commerce, in a document published puts this statement in doubt. The document contains 105 questions about TPP. Regarding access to medicine the document raises a question: will the TPP affect public health? Then the document states that the same concern was made during the Peru-U.S. FTA negotiation, but that to the moment those concerns have not been rejected or accepted by the Ministry of Commerce. (See: http://larepublica.pe/impresa/economia/15214-ampliacion-de-patentes-de-farmacos-y-medioambiente-siguen-en-discusion-en-el-tpp )
Moreover, Minister of Commerce Magali Silva has also stated to the press that she is in favor of granting five years of protection to data protection, which opposes to the position taken by the Ministry of Health. Representatives of both Ministries have travel to Hawaii for the next TPP round. (See: http://larepublica.pe/impresa/politica/18521-mincetur-y-minsa-enfrentados-en-hawai-por-el-tpp)
In Mexico some concerns have been raised about the effects that patent provisions on the TPP can have in the Mexican market of generic drugs. Few weeks ago, the Federal Commissioner for the Protection from Sanitary Risks, showed data about how, in Mexico, generic drugs have an 85% of consumption, helping Mexicans to save money. Nonetheless, the TPP and its proposal for extension of patents can threaten this reality. Therefore, the Mexican Association of Pharmaceutical Laboratories, which groups 52 generic drugs companies, is concerned. (See: http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/entrada-de-opinion/columna/alberto-barranco/cartera/2015/07/27/alerta-roja-por-tpp)
