AIDS Treatment News logo      

December 10, 2010

India-EU generic drug row 'resolved' at Brussels summit

BBC News: "A row between the EU and India over the transit of generic drugs through Europe has been resolved, negotiators told Reuters news agency.

"As a result of the deal at an India-EU summit in Brussels, an Indian complaint to the World Trade Organization will be suspended, India's trade minister said."

Note: We seem to have been wrong in the comment below. See the Daily Nation [Kenya]: Deal Spells Doom for Our Chronically Sick.

Comment: This has been an AIDS issue for some time. If Indian companies make generic drugs legally and ships them to African countries (for example) where they are also legal, can EU stop the shipments in transit -- in Amsterdam, for example, because the drugs do not meet European intellectual-property requirements? The European Union has done so, presumably at the request of multinational pharmaceutical companies.

We don't know the details of this new deal. It's probably a victory, since India would never be happy with letting that interference continue.

0 comments: