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Edited on Fri Jul-29-05 07:21 AM by ulysses
Testimony of MSF on IP Provisions in DR-CAFTA & Consequences For Access to Essential Medicines
Submitted to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives
April 2005
INTRODUCTION
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontierès (MSF) is pleased to submit this testimony to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives about the potential negative consequences of intellectual property (IP) provisions in the United States-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) on access to essential medicines in the concerned countries.
MSF is deeply concerned that provisions in the Chapter on Intellectual Property in DR-CAFTA1 will lead to devastating consequences in terms of access to medicines for millions of people in the region with HIV/AIDS and other diseases. MSF is also concerned that this trade agreement, among others already signed or currently being negotiated, undermines the right and obligation of countries to protect public health and promote access to medicines for all, in accordance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Declaration on the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and Public Health (“Doha Declaration”), which the U.S. adopted along with all other WTO members in November 20012. The Doha Declaration clearly recognized concerns about the effects of patents on prices and stated unambiguously that TRIPS can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner “supportive of WTO members' right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all.”3
MSF has called repeatedly on the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to ensure that the Doha Declaration remains a ceiling for trade negotiations on IP as they relate to public health technologies. Because of the clearly stated negotiating objectives of the U.S., however, we have been forced to go one step further in recommending that IP be excluded from bilateral and regional trade agreements altogether. The WTO TRIPS Agreement already establishes more than sufficient standards for IP protection in WTO member states. more... http://www.doctorswithoutborders-usa.org/publications/speeches/2005/testimony_guatemala_4-2005.cfm
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