Brussels, 04/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - Mediterranean associations fighting for access to health care “are concerned about the consequences” of the free trade negotiations with the EU, and particularly about the “arrangements on intellectual property”.
The prospect of each of the countries in the Mediterranean region signing a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA) with the EU raises strong criticism from civil society in the Mediterranean - as is the case in Tunisia, where negotiations were formally launched on 13 October (see EUROPE 11418).
The Tunisian Association against Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS (ATL MST Aids-Tunis) and the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition in the Middle East and North Africa (ITPC-MENA) are joining forces to criticise the conclusion of the DCFTAs. They have therefore announced the organisation of a workshop in Tunis to raise awareness of the issue of “intellectual property and the barriers to access to treatment”, which will take place from Monday 16 to Wednesday 18 November. “This workshop will be an opportunity to strengthen capacity and share experience”, a press release states. Associations from other Mediterranean countries will also take part.
The provisions foreseen in the DCFTAs “would oblige Tunisia to give up the flexibility of its own legislation and the TRIPS (trade-related intellectual property rights) agreements”. The WTO's TRIPS agreements “allow any country that deems it necessary to import and produce a generic medicine even though it is patented in many other countries”, says the regional director of ITPC-MENA, Mohamed Msefer.
Similar associations in Morocco spoke last January of the risk of access to medicines being limited or abolished by the DCFTA that Morocco is in the process of negotiating with the EU (see EUROPE 11239). Othman Mellouk, who represents the associations, and is a member of the ITPC-MENA board, believes that “far from encouraging national economies, these agreements include many measures that are harmful for development, and particularly for access to medicines and the development of generics - and all the more so as these negotiations are shrouded in opacity”. (Original version in French by Fathi B'Chir)