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US has secured commitments from India on IPR, claims Michael Froman |
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NEW DELHI: A remark tucked away in the top US trade official's testimony before American lawmakers, stating that the US has secured commitments from India on intellectual property rights, has alarmed Indian drugmakers and public health activists.
"Use of the out-of-cycle review helped to secure commitments from India in the 2014 Trade Policy Forum on a broad range of IP issues of concern to the United States and its stakeholders," US trade representative Michael Froman told the US Senate Committee on Finance last week.
This came immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week spelt out India's readiness to accept suggestions made by a joint working group with the United States on intellectual property rights (IPR).
Now, domestic drugmakers and public health activists warn that if India agrees to the US' stated demands on IPR, it would risk the health of millions of patients by delaying access to low-cost generic drugs.It could also impact domestic drugmakers, whose business model relies on launching cheaper generic versions of new drugs discovered by the innovator multinationals.
"What are these commitments government is making to the US? The secrecy around these ongoing IPR negotiations with the US is disturbing. The government must come clean on this matter and tell the public what commitments have been given," said Anand Grover, director at Lawyers Collective, a not-for-profit group that has represented patient groups in many landmark cases.
"There are indications that the Indian government is changing its stand and taking a favourable view to the US demand for data exclusivity and patent linkage. What is most troubling is that this move would only benefit foreign MNCs, leaving Indian generics makers in the lurch and risking the health of millions of patients in the bargain," he said.
A top government official dismissed alarm bells. "India has not made any behind the scene commitment to US on IPR. We are awaiting US inputs on the draft IP policy," said the official.
DG Shah, secretary general of Indian Pharma Alliance, a grouping of top drugmakers in the country, said Indian drug firms have already expressed their serious concerns on the matter to the government.
"The government is miscalculating the serious impact these moves can have on public health and economy. These moves will significantly impact access to medicine and the future of generic industry," Shah said. "The government must disclose to the nation the nature of commitments it has made to the US on IPR issues." The USTR, under its annual 'Special 301' report on the adequacy and effectiveness of trading partners' protection and enforcement of IPR, last year reviewed whether India's IP regime has deteriorated enough to warrant a downgrade in its status to 'priority foreign country'.
Such a status would allow the US to impose trade sanctions on India. Early last year, the USTR deferred a decision on India till autumn, only to restart an 'out-of-cycle' review after Modi returned from his maiden US trip. A USTR statement, however, made it clear that the US will not revisit India's designation in 2014. Since then a joint working group with officials from both countries has been working to find a common ground on IPR issues. Among other things the US has demanded that India link its process of granting marketing approvals to drugs with that of award of patents, something it has till now consciously refrained from doing, dubbing it detrimental to public health and beyond its international commitments. Froman in his testimony before the senate committee, said the US has "laid out a work programme" with the Indian government to address IPR and other outstanding issues. ET reviewed the text of the written testimony, available at the committee's website and the full transcript of the proceedings, where Froman fielded questions from US senators.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com
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