Pharma Jogot
Rules relating to intellectual property rights will not be applicable to generic drugs manufactured in Bangladesh and other LDCs for another 17 years.
After several months of negotiations, the least developed countries (LDC) group has reached an agreement on this extension of the transition period for pharmaceuticals.
This waiver is likely to be declared at the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) council meeting to be held in Geneva next week. Bangladesh’s permanent representative in Geneva Shameem Ahsan informed Prothom Alo on Saturday.
He said the agreement was reached after several months of negotiations between the US and the LDC group under the coordination of Bangladesh.
In a note sent from Bangladesh’s permanent mission in Geneva on Saturday, it was said that the LDCs would be exempted from patent law restrictions under TRIPs for another 17 years starting from 2016.
Diplomatic sources in Dhaka have said, this was the longest-ever negotiated exemption for LDCs after the establishment of WTO under any agreement after the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations.
Sources in Dhaka and Geneva said the TRIPS council meeting at the start of October ended inconclusively over this issue. Negotiations continued between the LDCs and the US, and the US proposed a 10-year extension. The LDC group rejected the offer. The US from the outset has been opposed to granting intellectual property rights waiver to the LDC pharma industry.
According to neutral media body IP Watch, senior diplomats of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Uganda in Geneva, held talks with the US ambassador on 28 October to resolve the issue. Failing to reach an agreement, they met again on 29 October. The US finally had to relent due to the adamant stand of Bangladesh and the other LDCs, the sources added.
The World Trade Organisation and other institutions, countries, and civil rights bodies extended their support to the LDCs regarding the exemption of the pharmaceutical industry from intellectual property laws. In mid-October, six well-known US aid organizations, including Oxfam America, Health Group, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), Public Citizen, Union for Avoidable Cancer Treatment (UACT), and Young Professional Chronic Disease Network, wrote to US President Barack Obama, advocating this waiver. (Source: Prothom Alo)