HC Deb 07 November 2002 vol 392 cc758-9W
Tony Worthington

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will seek to lift restrictions on the export of generic drugs within the TRIPS Agreement at the WTO mini-ministerial meeting in Sydney on 14 November. [79726]

Ms Hewitt

The Doha "Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health" made clear that the TRIPS Agreement should be interpreted and implemented in such a way as to protect public health and promote access to medicines for all.

The EU is currently working with all WTO Members to find a solution to the issue of how WTO Members with insufficient manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector (mainly developing countries and Least Developed Countries) can make effective use of compulsory licensing under the TRIPS Agreement. We are hopeful that an effective and workable solution will be reached by the deadline of the end of the year.

Tony Worthington

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what plans she has following the Commission on Intellectual Property rights report to call for a substantive review and revision of TRIPS; and what plans she has to recommend extending TRIPS implementation deadlines to all developing countries. [79727]

Ms Hewitt

The Government are currently considering the report of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR) and plans to respond to the recommendations contained in the CIPR report early in the New Year. However, the Government have no plans to call for substantive review and revision of TRIPS.

The TRIPS Agreement lays down procedures for extending implementation deadlines for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The general implementation deadline is 2005 but an extension to 2016 was agreed for pharmaceutical products at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha. There is no specific mechanism for extending TRIPS implementation deadlines for all developing countries.

The UK Government work through the EU on issues relating to the TRIPS Agreement. The UK Government support the development of objective criteria to form the basis upon which extensions on TRIPS transition periods should be agreed. The Government therefore support the introduction into TRIPS of a mechanism for extending transition periods for individual developing countries.