Multinational Monitor |
||||
|
FEATURES: Not Kosher: The Ralph Reed-Jack Abramoff Connection. The United States, Bolivia, and the Political Economy of Coca The CAFTA Chronicles: Strong-Arming Central America, Mocking Democracy Thais Take to the Streets to Stop U.S. Trade Agenda Drilling East Timor: Australia's Oil Grab inthe Timor Sea INTERVIEWS: Saving $60 Billion: Lawrence Korb's Common Sense Budget Defense Plan The Market for Virtue: The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility DEPARTMENTS: Editorial The Front |
Thais Take to the Streets to Stop U.S. Trade Agendaby Martin Khor
Something strange happened in Chiang Mai, Thailand recently. A January meeting between Thai and U.S. officials to negotiate a free trade agreement between the two countries had to be shifted out of the hotel because of a massive protest by 10,000 people in the streets outside. The officials had to leave by the back door and travelled to a golf resort 20 kilometers away to continue their talks. Street demonstrations are well known at meetings of the World Trade Organization and the World Bank. But the Thais who turned up at Chiang Mai to show their displeasure even exceeded the number of protesters at the WTO conference in Hong Kong in December 2005. A coalition of Thai organizations representing AIDS patients, consumers, farmers, health activists, human rights groups and other civic organizations led the Chiang Mai protests. One major issue driving protesters into the streets is U.S. insistence that Thailand alter its patent and related laws in a way which public health advocates say will drive up the price of medicines. Also, many farmers are against the liberalization of food imports, which they say will drive them out of business. Already, Thai farmers selling onions and garlic have lost their business to cheap imports from China after the two countries signed a free trade deal. Among the protesters were 2,500 HIV-positive people, who see the proposed trade agreement as a matter of life and death. "It is crucial for us to stop the negotiations, because our lives are at stake," says Nopparat Sa-ngiemjitr, from an HIV/AIDS group. "We are fighting against drug patenting with our lives. I know I might get arrested or injured in clashes with police, but we are all willing to face that, because we have more to lose if the talks succeed." Some senior Thai government negotiators seemed to share the protesters' views. Kanisson Navanukhro, chief of Thailand's Department of Intellectual Property Rights, who led the Thai team negotiating on patents, says the U.S. conditions would put Thailand and Thai drug users in a disadvantaged position. "We cannot accept the U.S. demands," he said, "because their conditions were created only to benefit a developed country which has an advanced pharmaceutical industry. Thailand will have nothing to gain because our capacity in producing drugs is very poor." A World Health Organization official, William Aldis, agreed in a Bangkok Post article that "it could be a matter of life and death." He said that the United States had signed similar agreements with other countries that oblige them to tighten their patent laws well beyond internationally agreed standards. "To the surprise of many observers," he wrote, "these countries have bargained away reasonable flexibilities and safeguards in the implementation of intellectual property rights provided by the World Trade Organization. These safeguards ensure access to life-saving medicines at an affordable cost by permitting countries to produce or import less expensive versions of essential drugs." The WHO official added that a recent meeting of world experts organized by the Thai authorities had urged the Thai government not to give up its sovereign right to use these flexibilities. The meeting suggested that Thailand follow the example of Malaysia and issue compulsory licenses [authorizing generic production of unpatented drugs] to supply HIV/AIDS drugs. "The stakes are high for the 600,000 Thais living with HIV/AIDS, whose survival depends on availability of affordable drugs," argued Aldis. The cost of the government's HIV treatment program may rise from $38 million to $500 million a year within 10 years, as the virus's resistance to present drugs means they have to be replaced by more expensive new drugs. Giving up flexibilities in implementing intellectual property rights "would put at risk the survival of hundreds of thousands of Thai citizens," concluded the WHO official. Parliamentarians have joined the protest movement. Thai Senator Kraisak Choonhavan plans to sue the Thai Government for violating the Thai Constitution in its conduct of the talks. Recently, he met with U.S. negotiators in Chiang Mai, then called on the government to reject any chapter in the trade agreement on intellectual property rights. "We're concerned that an FTA [Free Trade Agreement] will block production of generic drugs, which in turn would definitely lead to higher drug prices," he said. The only options for the government now are to pull out of the talks or sell the country down the drain on public health for dubious returns." The U.S. proposals would strengthen monopolies on medicines in a variety of ways. First, drug patent terms would be extended beyond the WTO-required length of 20 years. Second, the FTA would require Thailand to provide five years of "exclusivity" on clinical trial data, meaning that generic drug producers cannot get their products approved for safety on the basis of the data already provided by the original company, although the products are similar. This would stop generic versions of a medicine from entering the market for five years, even if there is no patent on the medicine. Thai consumers would have to pay the higher prices of medicines of the original companies. Third, the free trade agreement would restrict the grounds that the government can use to issue a compulsory license that enables the supply of generic versions of the patented drugs. In the face of the public protests, senior Thai Ministers assured the public that the trade deal will not have a negative impact on the people's access to medicines. But the United States is unlikely to sign an agreement that does not include the patent provisions it wants, as the record of previous trade negotiations shows. Asked if the United States would agree to a deal that does not include its proposed patent provisions, U.S. spokesperson Neena Moorjani said, "We have not concluded any previous FTAs that did not include these provisions. U.S. free trade agreements maintain the same standards no matter which country we are negotiating with." Critics of U.S. trade policy say what is happening in Thailand is a lesson for other Asian countries that are now in the process of beginning negotiations over similar deals. Malaysia and Korea are both set to start negotiations with the United States in coming months. Any possible benefits in terms of increased market access for exports to the U.S. market have to be weighed against serious repercussions, warn critics, including increased competition to local producers and especially the impact on access to medicines. Malaysia has made use of compulsory licensing to import three types of drugs for treating HIV/AIDS patients, resulting in much cheaper medicines being made available. In the future, compulsory licensing may also be used to import or manufacture generic medicines needed for all kinds of ailments, including SARS and avian flu.
Martin Khor is director of the Penang, Malaysia-based Third World Network. This article was distributed by Third World Network Features. |
|||