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India has pointed out to the US that its stand on protecting the rights of its people to access life saving drugs by not going beyond the commitments made in the international TRIPS agreement has been "vindicated''’ by a recent United Nations (UN) report.
“I pointed out to the US Trade Representative, Michael Froman, that a report brought out by a UN high level panel on access to medicines clearly vindicates India’s position on TRIPS plus issues such as data exclusivity and patent linkages,” the Commerce & Industry Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said at a press conference on Thursday following her trade policy forum (TPF) dialogue with the USTR.
New Delhi has also demanded that an institutional mechanism for food safety clearance be put in place and conformity assessment processes should be in line with international practices such as Codex guidelines and Sanitary & Phytosanitary (SPS) rules.
On IPR, the Minister said that, “India is very clear that it is not ready to engage with anyone on 'TRIPS plus' issues which could lead to ever-greening of patents or blocking of compulsory licences.”
The US has been complaining for long that India’s IPR laws are not strong enough to give adequate protection to all patent holders.
It has been pushing India to make changes on controversial laws such as Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act — a prime demand of multinational pharmaceutical companies. Section 3(d) discourages patents being granted for incremental innovations.
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