Brussels / Geneva, 28/08/2003 (Agence Europe) - The 146 members of the World Trade Organisation are expected by the end of the week to endorse an agreement on access to medicines, an agreement that would clarify the shady area of the still dangerously over-full agenda of the ministerial conference scheduled for 10 to 14 September in Cancun. The agreement, concluded the day before between the United States, Brazil, India, Kenya and South Africa, is supposed to allow the poorest populations to enjoy lower costs for essential health treatment in order to eliminate devastating epidemics such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Some countries, however, have said they are waiting for further information, while, on the NGO side, the compromise has already been described as "disastrous".
The text, approved by the United States and its main interlocutors in this debate that has been raging for the past two years, is intended to "provide some comfort to the US pharmaceutical companies that were worried about abuse", the representative for South Africa in Geneva, Faizel Ismail, said. The protagonists focused on a draft declaration by the presidency of the general WTO Council which, associated with the almost consensual compromise (refused by Washington) last December, strikes a delicate balance between the interests of medicines producers - who receive additional assurance about protection for their patents - and the needs of developing countries - to which it offers derogation for producing and exporting or even importing less costly generic products, one is pleased to note in substance on the African continent. For Oxfam, however, the agreement is "disastrous". The main reason for this is that it "contains so much red tape and so many obstacles … developing countries would still struggle to get access to cheap medicines and thousands of people would continue to die unnecessarily", the NGO explains in a terse statement. "We need to get this off the table before Cancun, so we can focus on other important issues", Kenyan Ambassador Amina Chawahir Mohamed said, while her Canadian counterpart Sergio Marchi (who had had to endorse the failure of talks last year as president of the General Council) considers that, with this very "promising" move forward "we're on the verge of closing a very significant file". He went on to say he hoped this opportunity would be seized. However, for the time being, some countries are still seeking more information, non binding for some. Two in particular (Ed.: representatives of Venezuela and the Philipp!ines) hope to ask questions before giving their go-ahead, it was said in Geneva on Thursday.
Apart from this breakthrough, the intense activity that has continued over the past two weeks around a draft final ministerial statement (see EUROPE of 26 August, p.2, and 27 August, p.5) still gives rise to too many controversial points. Carlos Perez del Castillo himself recognised on Wednesday evening that, after a meeting behind closed doors, there was still no agreement, sources familiar with the discussions say. The Uruguayan ambassador, who chairs the General Council - the decision-making body of the organisation - and conducts preparations, nonetheless confirmed that the draft general compromise submitted to the 146 for scrutiny on Sunday last, "will go as it is, with a cover letter in which I will reflect the divergence of views that has been expressed". "The draft text reflects my own vision of where we are in this process. The cover letter will make sure that the ministers will also be apprised of the difficulties that still exist in this process", he explained.
In Brussels, the spokesman for Agriculture Minister Franz Fischler, who came out of a 90-minute meeting with his Japanese opposite number, pointed out that "Japan seems to share the fears expressed by the European Union on a large number of points" dealt with in this document and that "there are quite a few subjects of agreement mainly on the question of defending non-trade concerns, as Japan also has very important interests" in this field. The spokesperson announced that the Friends of Multifunctionality, namely the countries that refuse to reduce agriculture to its function of food production, will meet in Cancun, on the sidelines of the WTO summit, as "there are many other countries interested".
Finally, on another sensitive issue, that of including the so-called Singapore issues in negotiations, talks continue to stumble over opposition from India about including investment and competition on the agenda.