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medicines

RCEP investment chapter presents a grave threat to access to medicines
3-Mar-2017 MSF
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) raises concerns over provisions under negotiation in the RCEP investment chapter that threaten to restrict access to affordable medicines for millions of people
16-nation RCEP talks resume in wake of TPP’s demise
28-Feb-2017 Japan Times
The RCEP Kobe conference is the first round of negotiations this year and the first since U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was canceling America’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The Kobe meeting will set the tone for the remaining negotiations this year, however NGO representatives, noted that the TPP would be the elephant in the room.
RCEP and health: this kind of ‘progress’ is not what India and the world need
28-Feb-2017 The Wire
Concerns remain over the impact of RCEP negotiations on public health and access to medicines.
India should not let Europe undermine its new BIT and TRIPs flexibilities for medicines
27-Feb-2017 Sunday Guardian Live
There is no principled basis for EU’s demand of extending patent protection beyond the period of 20 years.
MSF calls on Japan and South Korea to drop the harmful RCEP measures
26-Feb-2017 MSF
The intellectual property provisions initiated by Japan and South Korea go far beyond the requirements needed under international trade rules.
TPP is dead, but its legacy lives on
10-Feb-2017 The Hindu
The Trans-Pacific Partnership was dead long before Donald Trump signed his executive order. But its damaging aspects, like stringent IP provisions, have just migrated to other agreements
Implementation of Indo-Japan free trade agreement needs to be expedited: Nirmala Sitharaman
10-Jan-2017 Financial Express
The pace of implementation of Indo-Japan free trade agreement needs to be further enhanced in order to exploit the huge potential of the pact, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
Investigation: As Colombia pushes for cancer drug price-cut and considers compulsory licensing, Novartis responds with quiet filing of an investment treaty notice
2-Jan-2017 IA Reporter
Novartis lodged a formal notice of dispute under the Switzerland-Colombia BIT.
Report shows trade agreements have boosted medicine and copyright monopolies
21-Dec-2016 AFTINET
Global pharmaceutical companies have successfully lobbied for longer monopolies in trade agreements which have delayed the availability of cheaper medicines, resulting in higher prices.
Longer monopolies and single legal proceedings vs. generics - the gift of CETA to Canadian drug patentees
13-Dec-2016 Lexology
Canadian pharmaceutical patent owners can expect two substantive changes in the next year following implementation of the Canada–European Union trade agreement
Regional trade meet should not pave way for monopoly in drugs: Doctors without Borders
12-Dec-2016 The Times of India
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and other health groups have reiterated concerns about harmful intellectual property provisions in the RCEP
TPP may be dead – but its impact lingers
7-Dec-2016 IP Watch
Threats to affordable access to medicines continue unabated
On World AIDS Day, threat to access to medicines looms large
6-Dec-2016 The Jakarta Post
As trade negotiators from 16 countries gather in Indonesia to deliberate the terms of trade agreement — the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (RCEP), access to low-cost generic medicines is under grave threat.
MSF press release: RCEP trade deal negotiators must reject terms that would harm access to medicines
5-Dec-2016 Médecins Sans Frontières
International medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), along with other health groups, reiterated concerns about harmful intellectual property provisions in the proposed agreement that would increase market monopolies for pharmaceutical corporations and delay or block access to affordable generic medicines.
Canada-EU trade deal: Costs for new drugs may rise, but not for years
2-Dec-2016 CBC
CETA drug-patent extension applies only to new products, and higher costs are likely at least 8 years away
Ottawa didn’t study how much more we’ll pay for drugs under CETA
22-Nov-2016 Huffington Post
Experts have been warning for years that Canada’s trade deal with the European Union would add billions to the cost of pharmaceuticals in Canada, but the government itself apparently did not study the issue.
Data exclusivity could go to 12 yrs
8-Nov-2016 Pharma in Focus
US reports that data exclusivity for biologics in Australia could still be extended to 12 years via the TPP trade deal have got local activists up in arms.
Call for Govt to help our neighbours negotiate for life-saving medicines
25-Oct-2016 Newstalk ZB
The Public Health Association (PHA) is asking the NZ government to step in and help our neighbouring countries negotiate better deals for life-saving medicines.
India to US: Will not tighten IPR rules beyond TRIPS mandate
21-Oct-2016 Hindu Business Line
India and the US continued to differ on the issue of intellectual property rights (IPR) norms in their bilateral trade and investment policy discussions
Activists fret about RCEP impact
20-Oct-2016 Bangkok Post
Access to affordable medicine and farmers’ control over seeds could be undermined by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership being negotiated between Asean member countries and six other trade partners, says FTA Watch in Thailand