§ Tony WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussion there was in Doha about the impact of the patent system on health systems in developing countries; and which proposals for reform she supported. [16063]
§ Clare ShortThe Doha Ministerial discussed the relationship between the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement (TRIPS) and public health; the freedom to determine the grounds upon which compulsory licences for patented drugs can be granted; the right to determine what constitutes a national emergency; the freedom to establish a regime for the exhaustion of intellectual property rights; and how countries with insufficient or no pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity can make effective use of the compulsory licensing provisions.
I welcome and fully support the proposals in the Doha Ministerial Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health and the World Trade Organisation's (WTO's) effort to ensure the TRIPS Agreement can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of public health. I also supported the move to allow Least Developed Countries until 2016 to implement TRIPS provisions with regard to pharmaceuticals.
Furthermore, the Government are committed to working to help the TRIPS Council find a meaningful solution to help countries with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector make effective use of compulsory licensing by the end of 2002, as agreed in the declaration.
§ Tony WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the outcome of the WTO conference in Doha with respect to developing countries. [16068]
§ Clare ShortThe Ministerial Declaration from the WTO meeting in Doha made strong commitments to the interests of developing countries. The Ministerial resulted in agreement on the need to reduce subsidies and barriers to trade in agriculture, manufacturing and services, which could potentially produce enormous benefits for developing countries. The agreement on TRIPS recognised the need for a flexible interpretation of TRIPS to enable developing countries to protect public health. The challenge now is to ensure that these commitments become a reality.