Wow, are they out of line, competing with our God given right to profit!
By NAOMI KOPPEL
GENEVA (AP) - Diplomats from poor nations on Wednesday hit out at new attempts to ensure them cheap access to vital drugs, claiming rich countries are making proposals they know will be rejected.
They rallied to support South Africa, which told a meeting of the World Trade Organization that a new proposal by Japan on rules for overriding patents to treat illnesses like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is missing the real point of contention between nations.
``We should stop wasting our time on proposals that clearly will not bring us to the real problem, which is the United States' position,'' said Brazilian diplomat Antonio de Aguiar Patriota.
Talks to settle the issue collapsed shortly before Christmas after the United States refused to accept a proposal that was approved by the WTO's other 143 members.
Japan's proposal - like those made by the United States and the European Union before it - suggests producing a list of 22 diseases that are included, though new ones could be added in the future if there is a public health need.
But developing nations said any proposal that included a list would be unacceptable because trade ministers agreed in 2001 that the decision on what constituted a public health crisis would be left with individual governments.
``It is again a question of interpretation of something that has already been decided,'' said Indian Ambassador K.M. Chandrasekhar of the Japanese plan.
``Maybe it solves the problem for the U.S. pharmaceutical companies but not for us,'' Patriota added.
Trade ministers meeting in Qatar in November 2001 recognized the right of WTO members to override patents on expensive Western drugs and make the products themselves when public health is at stake.
However, drugs made under such ``compulsory licensing'' were to be used only domestically and not exported. As most developing countries have no drug industry, they cannot benefit because they can neither make the drugs they need nor import them.
The problem was supposed to be settled by the end of last year, but Washington has held out, claiming that some countries could use the rules to ignore patents on drugs to treat noninfectious illnesses like asthma, diabetes or obesity. That could remove the incentive for drug companies to develop new treatments, it said.
``More and more pharmaceutical research is being conducted in the United States because of the environment that is provided there for research, and it is extremely important not just for the United States and the manufacturers but for the world that we maintain that research capability,'' Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier said Tuesday.
Talks are expected to continue over the next few days but it seems unlikely that the problem can be settled before the WTO General Council - which has to take the final decision - meets on Monday and Tuesday.