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medicines

A dubious and secret influence on our public health policy
12-Jun-2007
Australians have a natural dislike of faceless people making major government policy decisions. Such activity seems to run counter to core principles about how a democracy should operate. Yet, this is what appears to have happened with the Medicines Working Group, established under the free trade agreement between Australia and the United States.
EU in danger of breaking its promise to the poor
10-Jun-2007 Financial Times
In its economic partnership agreement (EPA) negotiations with the ACP, the European Union seems to have forgotten the development dimension and pursues an agenda that reflects primarily the interest of the EU alone. This pattern is painfully evident in the EU’s pursuit of new and higher standards for intellectual property and other trade-related areas.
U.S. health expert warns Korea about effects of FTA
5-Jun-2007
What would happen if a government’s policy for public health comes under siege by lawsuits from foreign companies?
Korean trade agreement: Threat to public health
31-May-2007 News Release Wire
The US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) continues the practice of corporate hijacking global trade negotiations to the benefit of transnational drug and tobacco companies, and at the expense of people’s health. It threatens core protections for public health, long under fire from NAFTA’s notorious Chapter 11.
Indian pharma cos see hope as US retreats on data exclusivity
15-May-2007 Economic Times
A section of India’s generic drug industry has claimed that its ability to export generic drugs to over a dozen countries with which the US is planning FTAs will increase, if a “conceptual agreement” reached last week by the US’ House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Bush administration is ratified and implemented.
Bipartisan trade deal: full text
14-May-2007 Committee on Ways and Means
Full text of the bipartisan trade deal reached between the US’ Democrat-led Congress and the Bush Administration
Bipartisan trade deal: USTR "fact sheets"
13-May-2007 USTR
’New trade policy for America’
11-May-2007 House and Ways Committee
The agreement announced today is a fundamental shift in US trade policy and clears the way for broad, bipartisan congressional support for the Peru and Panama FTAs.
US action plan must be opposed, groups tell govt
11-May-2007
Thai Aids activists and academics called on the Commerce Ministry yesterday to reject the "action plan" proposed by the United States to remove Thailand from its priority watch list for intellectual property protection.
FTA: The unstated reason for the watch list
11-May-2007
The US decision to put Thailand on its "priority watch list" this month was prompted by failed talks on a free trade agreement, as well as the patent-busting of US-made pharmaceuticals, a former US trade official said Friday.
Drug firms against trade changes
7-May-2007 Morning Call
US drugmakers, among the biggest proponents of free-trade agreements, are now lobbying to stop Democrats and the Bush administration from reworking pending trade deals to curb provisions that benefit the industry.
Drug makers fear trade deal from House Dems, administration
3-May-2007 The Hill
Research-based pharmaceutical companies could be among the biggest losers if House Democrats and the Bush administration reach an agreement on trade, industry sources said this week.
Drug dispute could lead to trade trouble
29-Apr-2007
The Thai government’s showdown with multinational drug companies over compulsory licensing could result in a downgrade on Washington’s watch list of countries with poor intellectual property (IP) rights protection, trade sources say.
Intellectual property, bilateral agreements and sustainable development: A strategy note
20-Apr-2007 CIEL
This paper addresses the main threats of the intellectual property chapters in the bilateral and regional agreements with the US for access to medicines, give an overview of the reactions from different sectors to these agreements, and outline some strategic considerations for future action.
FTA: Malaysia imposes terms on data exclusivity for US pharmaceuticals
20-Apr-2007
Malaysia has set some conditions in agreeing to the U.S. request for data exclusivity (DE) for new pharmaceutical products in the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said today.
Trade pact risks environment, public health
3-Apr-2007 Korea Times
For the past few years, the backers and denouncers of a free trade accord between Korea and the United States have feuded like the Montagues and Capulets. Not surprisingly, the two camps are still polarized on whether the trade pact bringing together the world’s largest and 10th largest economies is destined to be a happy marriage or Shakespearean tragedy.
’Jamu’ makers get ready for AFTA by standardising products
30-Mar-2007
‘Jamu’ or medicinal herb tonic producers in the Southeast Asian (SEA) region are making efforts to standardize their commodities in the face of the advent of the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA), an Indonesian jamu businessman said.
Colombian study on impact of US FTA on medicine
12-Mar-2007 FTA Malaysia
This is an English translation of a full study done in Colombia of the impacts of its US free trade agreement (FTA) on medicine consumption and the Colombian generic industry. The study study used the World Health Organization’s methodology.
Facts and evidences on the 10 burning issues related to the government use of patents on three patented essential drugs in Thailand
7-Mar-2007
The recent decisions of the Thai Ministry of Public Health to announce the Government Use of Patents on three patented drugs, i.e., Efavirenz (Stocrin®) of Merck Sharp and Dohme), Lopinavir+Ritonavir (Kaletra®) of Abbott Laboratory) and Clopidogrel (Plavix®) of Sanofi-Aventis), based on proposals from the National Health Security Office, have raised several questions among the public and also the concerned partners as well as the pharmaceutical industries, both in the country and internationally.
SAFTA could increase drug trafficking in region: INCB
4-Mar-2007 Daily Times
A negative fallout of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement could be an increase in the narcotic traffic in the region, said Dr MM Bhatnagar, member of the International Narcotic Control Board (INCB).