WTO MEETING - US formally accepts
deal on generic drugs for poor countries
18 December, 2005
HONG KONG (AFX) - The US said it has formally accepted
an accord to make generic medicines more widely available to poor
countries.
US Trade Representative Rob Portman announced that
Washington has formally accepted the accord, which was settled last
week at the WTO's Geneva base.
WTO members confirmed their support for a provisional
2003 amendment to intellectual property rules that enabled poor
countries to import generic drugs to treat
infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS.
'Our acceptance of this amendment is an important
step in the global effort in providing the best access to life-saving
drugs,' Portman said in a statement yesterday.
The US is the first of the 149 governments in the
WTO to formally accept the deal and encourages others to follow
its lead soon, Portman said.
Last week's agreement was widely seen as a gesture
to the developing world ahead of the WTO's ministerial conference
here.
The 2003 agreement gave poor nations a temporary
exemption from international laws protecting intellectual property
rights, enabling them to buy cheaper
generic drugs from pharmaceutical companies in countries such
as Brazil and India.
The measure will come into force by Dec 1, 2007
at the latest following a final ratification by two-thirds of the
WTO membership, according to the organisation.
