Agence France Presse | By KATE MILLAR | August 29, 2003
WTO members on Friday failed to pin down an accord on ensuring patent rules do not bar access to cheap medicines for poor countries after problems prevented a deal at the eleventh hour.
Although the 146 World Trade Organisation countries earlier agreed to pass on a proposed compromise for approval by the body's ruling general council, it failed to win overall backing.
"There is no deal. We need more time," WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters, adding the council's chairman Carlos Perez del Castillo would hold further talks from as early as later on Friday.
A breakthrough on Wednesday, when five key countries involved in trying to resolve the longstanding problem agreed on a proposed solution, had led to high hopes for an endorsement by the other 141 states.
But after several hours of meetings being called, delayed and adjourned at WTO headquarters Thursday, divergences among members over the interpretation of the proposed deal arose.
"It became clear it was not a question of two or three countries, it was a great many countries," Rockwell told reporters.
The issue, which has cast a shadow over global free trade talks since late 2001, will now likely have to be dealt with by a ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico, in two weeks, Rockwell added.
That conference from September 10-14 already faces tough decisions in key areas such as agriculture and on whether to begin negotiations on drawing up rules on trade and investment policy.
Envoys had been tasked with agreeing a solution to ensure that poor countries without a pharmaceutical industry can import cheaper generic copies of patented medicines for fighting killer diseases such as AIDS and malaria.
US opposition blocked a deal last December. Washington was worried that the proposal could open the way to generic producers in Brazil and India flooding the market with cheap medicines.
But the US, Brazil and India, as well as Kenya and South Africa agreed a draft compromise on Wednesday to allay US concerns that included the December text, plus a 'chairman's statement'.
Most countries informally signalled they would endorse the deal at initial talks later on Wednesday but when the meetings resumed on Thursday the compromise began to run into difficulty.
Without naming countries, Rockwell said there were "perhaps two dozen" countries with differing views.
"This is a serious humanitarian issue which cannot be done in a way which is not entirely clear," Perez del Castillo was reported to have told delegates.
"We have to get this right, not just for us but more importantly for the poeple who desperately need these medicines," he added.
The compromise had stated that the new rules would be used "in good faith" to protect public health and not for commercial or industrial objectives.
It also stressed the importance of ensuring that generic medicines are not diverted back to rich country markets, and that 23 developed countries would not use the solution to import generic drugs.
The 10 leading candidate members of the European Union would also opt out unless faced with emergencies until they become full members of the bloc next year, according to the draft text.
And a group of middle-income developing countries is also called on to agree to opt out from using the solution unless faced with a national emergency.Agence France Presse:
