La Primera | 21-9-2009

Close attention to Final Round of Peru-EU FTA Required

translated from the Spanish by Ira Glazer

At the beginning of the negotiations (with the EU), both then Minister
Mercedes Aráoz as well as the Peruvian negotiating team, announced
that Peru would not make undertake any commitments in excess of those
already undertaken in its agreement with the United States. The NGO,
The Peruvian Network for a Just Globalization (RedGe), emphasized
again yesterday the importance of closely monitoring the last stages
of the negotiations for a trade agreement with the EU, whose final
round starts today [Sept 21]. RedGe stated clearly that both public
opinion, as well as members of Congress, have to make sure that no
conditions that restrict access to medicines for thousands of
Peruvians are included in the text of the agreement.

’This week sensitive subjects such as intellectual property and access
to medicines will be dealt with, which imply important commitments
that our country has already undertaken and implemented in its FTA
with the United States,’ stated Alejandra Alayza, the executive
coordinator of RedGe. In the same vein, she alluded to the fact that
the EU is asking for the protection of test data for biotechnology
products (that currently enjoy no such protection in Peru), which
would mean limiting access to products such as vaccines, hormone
treatments, blood, and plant derivatives among others. In addition,
the EU is insisting on creating the possibility of extending the
protection of test data, for periods that could last more than 5
years.

’These could last more than 10 years, such as they (the EU) proposed
at the beginning of the negotiations, which would mean an average
increase in the price of medicines of more than 15 %.
This would imply an increase in the expenditure on medicines, which by
the year 2030 would be around $250 million a year,’ according to a
report by RedGe.

Finally, the Europeans are looking to include new border measures that
would expand the scope iof intellectual property infringement to
include patented medicines. Accepting this demand, would mean that
customs officials would be able to impound legally produced generic
medicines, in effect becoming the protector of private commercial
interests.