Compte rendu ‒ Conseil des ADPIC ‒ Afficher les détails de l'intervention/la déclaration

Ambassador Karen Tan (Singapore)
Afrique du Sud
Q.ii Public health dimension of the TRIPS Agreement
275. The representative of South Africa said that, in his view, this issue encapsulated the difficulties trade negotiators often faced in explaining what exactly was the value that they added to the lives of people in their respective countries, particularly those on the African continent. This issue was literally a question of life and death, as legitimate affordable drugs destined for people who were in most need of them were being unfairly detained. He said that India had explained in detail why it was important that the European Communities address this issue expeditiously. 276. He said that South Africa had been the first African country to fully comply with the TRIPS Agreement already by 1997 and took the protection of intellectual property very seriously. Any perception that mixed the issue of generic drugs and counterfeit drugs, however, had no basis in law or in fact, and he objected to such perceptions and related actions in the strongest terms possible. The European Commission President Baroso, Commissioner Ashton and Commissioner Michel had repeatedly stated their commitment to the principle of development and the alleviation of poverty and he believed this commitment to be sincere. However, it was difficult to avoid the conclusion that the implementation of actions such as this particular EC Regulation undermined those statements and he therefore called upon the European Communities yet again to address this issue as an urgent matter using all avenues available to them.
IP/C/M/61