In a matter that remains largely ignored by most of the mainstream media, one of the greatest points of discussion and dispute in IPR at the international level has been the level of exemptions allowed for ‘Least Developed Countries’ under the WTO rules, for patents and other intellectual property related to medicines. On this front, international organisations such as Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam and Knowledge Ecology International have been lobbying very strongly in favour of the proposal. Supporters of an indefinite exemption include the UNDP, the Joint UN Program on HIV/Aids and the EU, but there is still something of an opposition to the exemptions as they are currently framed, particularly from the US. This post discusses the US’ perspective and political pressures on this issue.
The petition was originally made back in February with the poor countries asking the World Trade Organisation for exemptions from patents and intellectual property standards for medicines, and the WTO is set to decide on the proposal by mid-October. If the proposal passes through, countries which are classified as ‘LDCs’ by the United Nations would be exempt from granting patents and other monopolies on medication. While this would be a drastic suspension of IP laws, the trade-off is that these nations will have the level of ‘access to medicine’ they need, which is impossible as long as the laws remain in force. The exemptions would allow manufacturers, health programs and even NGOs to continue to make, import, or export affordable generic medicines for life-threatening conditions, without worrying about infringement. As important as this matter is, I do wonder why it hasn’t been picked up in the mainstream media much. Perhaps, as Jamie Love put it on Twitter, this countries in question are perhaps simply ‘too poor to be news’?
The U.S. has been publicly silent on the proposal the entire time, though there are rumours of some back-channel arguments and concerns. Privately, they are pressuring the LDCs to accept a limit on the period for which the wavier is applicable. The LDCs want the exemptions to be available to them for as long as they remain ‘LDCs’ in the eyes of the UN, while the US is supposedly looking for a shorter time period. Accepting such a limitation beats the very point of the exemptions, as it would mean that the LDCs and supporting organisations would be unable to either secure sufficient quantities or develop sustainable local pharmaceutical capacity of lower-cost generic medicines to meet their requirements.
Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Presidential hopeful in the US, has pitched in his support for the proposal with an open letter addressed to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, asking him to reconsider his position on the issue. He was soon followed by seven Members of House of Representatives making a similar request, which along with the NGOs and other supporters adds up to a lot of political pressure on the Obama administration. Crucially, it must be noted that the US, i.e. the Obama administration, is also the one of the biggest forces behind the Trans-Pacific Partnership signed earlier yesterday, which extends intellectual property rights in ways that are directly against ‘access to medicine’, an indicator of its current policy position.
