Brussels/Geneva, 01/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday morning, at the end of a new round of informal talks and ten days off the Ministerial conference in Cancun- presented as a key test for the success of negotiations on the Doha Agenda- the 146 member countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) managed to reach definitive agreement on the mechanism allowing the poorest populations cheaper access to medicines considered essential for tackling pandemics such as Aids, malaria or tuberculosis. The agreement, which lifts the deadlock on a consensus blocked by the United States for over eight months, has been welcomed with hope throughout the world, but has disappointed many non-governmental organisations, including Medecins Sans Frontieres, which was behind this action launched shortly before Seattle.
The WTO, whose activities have been focussed on this sensitive but crucial chapter of the Doha Development Agenda for the last several days, has finally been able unanimously to enshrine the quasi-consensual modalities Washington had been opposing since 16 December, passing on the fears of the pharmaceutical lobby. This text, known as "Perez Motta", lays down the conditions under which developing countries such as Kenya could get hold of generic medicines manufactured under obligatory licence, and therefore cheaper, in other countries, mainly India and Brazil. The "derogation", which will enter into force in a few months' time, will allow a country faced with a sanitary crisis and lacking production capacity, to procure cheap copies produced under obligatory licence in another country, and allow that country to export them, without having to apply to the patent holder, whose permission was formerly required. The Americans, fearing that this new flexibility decided at Doha could be exploited to the benefit of parallel circuits or the treatment of non-infectious diseases such as diabetes, obesity and- why not?- impotence, were "reassured" by the adoption of a safeguard, according to a draft statement they put together along with four other protagonists of these negotiations (EUROPE of August 30, p.4). It was on the reading of this text, drawn up with Kenya, India, South Africa and Brazil, that the negotiations had been stuck since last Thursday, with other countries such as the Philippines and Argentina insisting on promoting their own interpretations, thus re-awakening Washington's fears. "It's often better to leave well alone", said the New Zealand ambassador, who insisted on "balance" between the various interests, and a "long list" of African counterparts tried, with success, to re-focus the debate on the millions of lives which could be saved by changing the rules on trade-related intellectual property rights. "The African speakers were particularly moving", said a source close to the discussions, and shortly before the end of the formal session of the General Council, the decision-making body of the WTO, the 146 were able to state that the exemptions "should be used in good faith to protect public health (...) and not as an instrument to pursue industrial or trade policy". "But this decision will not be an end to the matter", added the same source: many delegates returned to the mood of scepticism amply evident outside the WTO since last week's breakthrough, by stressing the importance of making sure that "it also works in practice". The decision to except from TRIPS provisions in certain, strictly-defined cases, has yet to be enshrined in an amendment to the multilateral agreement, a process which the 146 have committed to completing within six months.
The "long-awaited" agreement was very warmly welcomed in Brussels as an illustration of the kind of "flexible and pragmatic response that the WTO can give to the concerns of developing countries, and a contribution to the fight against fatal diseases". "It also means transparency and certainty, for those countries lacking in production capacity, that the import of generic products is now a right protected by the WTO", stressed European Commissioner Pascal Lamy, reiterating: "Less than two weeks away from the Cancun meeting, this clearly shows that the Doha Development Agenda is more than just lip service". The United States also welcomed the balance between the needs of poorer countries and the need to preserve the system of patents, which is crucial to the research and development of new drugs. In many other capital cities, this agreement was also welcomed with as much relief as hope. Described by many as "a boost to confidence and the sense of shared responsibilities", the Vatican, which has observer status to the WTO, called it "an historical turning point", proof that the world of trade can be open to humanitarian needs.