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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | New Zealand Negotiator at Asia Trade Pact Talks Says Countries Should Analyse TRIPS-Plus -Anoo Bhuyan

New Zealand Negotiator at Asia Trade Pact Talks Says Countries Should Analyse TRIPS-Plus -Anoo Bhuyan

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published Published on Jul 29, 2017   modified Modified on Jul 29, 2017
-TheWire.in

The negotiator’s comments were non-committal but indicated that for now, the RCEP talks have not yet moved decisively into a TRIP-plus scenario.

The chief negotiator for New Zealand, at the Asia trade pact talks in Hyderabad this week, made pointed reference to TRIPS-plus (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) provisions, saying that while the TRIPS agreement on intellectual property rights was sufficient, it was up to the countries to analyse whether TRIPS-plus provisions would support innovation or whether they would result in additional and excessive costs.

The comments, which were made in a two-hour stakeholder consultation held on July 25 according to sources, could have implications on medicine access for the world as well as India’s generic pharmaceutical industry.

Negotiators from 16 countries met in Hyderabad this week for the 19th round of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to discuss trade issues with impacts on several sectors such as agriculture, livestock, e-commerce and pharmaceuticals. The talks are directed towards the formulation of a free trade agreement (FTA) between 10 ASEAN states and six countries with which ASEAN states have existing FTAs (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand). Because of the countries it covers, decisions taken at RCEP will impact nearly 50% of the world’s population.

The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) regime is an international agreement on intellectual property rights administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO). RCEP members are already subject to TRIPS obligations. However, states like Japan and South Korea have been pushing for new obligations on patents through RCEP, known as TRIPS-plus.

India is currently a TRIPS compliant state, but has been resisting efforts by countries to push for a TRIPS-plus scenario. The implications of intellectual property regulations via TRIPS, is felt on pharmaceuticals as well as seeds, both of which are significant to India.

TRIPS and TRIPS-plus

New Zealand’s chief negotiator, Mark Trainor, made these comments in response to concerns and questions raised by civil society members regarding the impact of RCEP on intellectual property rights and its subsequent impact on Indian generic drug production.

Sources at the event said they had asked the negotiators pointed questions on whether negotiators would be supporting Japan and South Korea’s efforts towards an intellectual property regime tilted towards protecting pharmaceutical profits,or whether they would support access to medicines for the developing world.

While most negotiators including the Indian delegates were silent or non-committal, Trainor’s comments provide a sliver of insight into what has otherwise been closed door talks without significant consultation. The career diplomat who has served as ambassador to Brazil and as advisor in the ministry of foreign affairs and trade said that New Zealand supports the use of intellectual property rights, to the extent that it supports innovation and creativity. Although his comments were also non-committal in so far as it supported TRIPS but also left space for TRIPS-plus, for now the comments are an indication that the talks have not yet moved decisively into a TRIPs-plus situation.

The consultation was attended by about 37 individuals, representing 25 organizations, from 6 countries. Nearly 600 other interested individuals and organisations, coming together under the banner of the ‘People’s Resistance Forum,’ boycotted this consultation, calling it a “sham,” and instead have been demanding more transparency from the negotiations, and a discussion in the ongoing session of parliament. The India-round of negotiations has been marked by regular protests since it began on 17 July. Protests have also been common at all other rounds of negotiations, held in different ASEAN countries.

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TheWire.in, 28 July, 2017, https://thewire.in/162587/new-zealand-rcep-trips-plus-provisions/


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