Drug patent row: seizure issue with EU resolved

India’s position accepted, patent rules to be amended to plug loopholes.

The long-pending issue of seizure of Indian generic drugs by European Union countries has been resolved, with the EU accepting India’s position and agreeing to amend the rules to plug the loopholes that led to the seizure of shipments.

“I think we have got an understanding on this issue. India was very firm on this in the negotiations. When we talk of IPR chapter, there is no question of discussing anything that is beyond our commitments in GATT and WTO,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of Ficci-Frauenhofer CEOs Roundtable here in Berlin.

Earlier this year, India had filed a complaint against EU at the WTO disputes panel body, but both the sides were asked to resolve the matter bilaterally with the help of a consultation process. Two rounds of negotiations had taken place on the issue. India had said the drug shipments were consistent with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, under WTO rules. But now, with the EU agreeing to amend the notification, the entire issue has been sorted and the complaint will be withdrawn.

Asked whether India would withdraw its complaint, Sharma said: “Yes, we do not want to be in conflict.” He added: “There has been realisation and we appreciate the steps taken. They went to the extent of saying that they were misreading the EU notification concerned.”

Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar would soon meet EU Director-General for Trade David O’Sullivan, with this issue as topmost on the agenda, besides negotiating the free trade agreement between the two sides, which is expected to be concluded before December.

Danièle Smadja, ambassador and head of the delegation of the European Commission, had in May said the commission was seeking to amend the laws to facilitate the export of the medicines through EU’s ports without any hindrance.

The problem started almost two years ago, when a generic drug shipment on route from India to Brazil was seized by the Dutch Customs in transit, citing violation of European patent laws. Developing nations have criticised the move as a deliberate attempt by rich nations and multinationals to diminish poor countries’ access to cheap medicines. The seized drugs were manufactured by firms like Ind-Swift, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s, Aurobindo Pharma and Macleods Pharma and were meant for the treatment of AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease and blood pressure.

There have been more than 20 cases of seizure of generic drug shipments from India so far by the European Customs officials, citing the violation of their patent laws and labelling those as ‘counterfeit’, even though the medicines were meant for other countries. This has led to outcry from developing countries like Brazil, Nigeria, Mexico, Colombia and Peru, which import these medicines. Besides a number of civil society groups, NGOs have strongly opposed the move as this has denied the access of patients to basic medication.

Reuters adds:
Indian officials reserved their right on Thursday to escalate the trade dispute with the European Union over seizures of generic drugs, even as the media reported the row had been solved.

Officials in both New Delhi and Geneva expressed surprise at the report that the dispute, which had clouded free-trade negotiations between India and EU, had been settled.

They could not confirm or deny the report, while EU officials in Brussels and Geneva also had no comment.