China's top legislature accepted on Sunday an amendment to the
WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS Agreement) to enhance access to medicines when
dealing with public health emergencies.
The amendment, approved by WTO members on December 6, 2005,
allows countries to override patent rights when necessary to export
life-saving drugs to developing countries that face public health
crises but cannot produce drugs for themselves.
The amendment also makes permanent the flexibility of developing
and least developed members to produce or import generic copies of
patented drugs to deal with epidemics.
"The amendment will play a positive role in balancing relations
between intellectual property rights protection and public health
promotion, helping developing and least developed countries to deal
with public health problems as well," said Ma Xiuhong, Vice
Minister of Commerce, when briefing lawmakers on the importance of
the approval.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said the agreement to amend the
TRIPS provisions confirms once again that members are determined to
ensure the WTO trading system contributes to humanitarian and
development goals.
The amendment will be formally incorporated into the TRIPS
Agreement when two thirds of the WTO members have ratified it. The
WTO said members have set themselves until December 1, 2007 to do
this. The waiver remains in force until then.
The bill was submitted Wednesday to a five-day session of the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's
top legislature, for deliberation.
(Xinhua News Agency October 29, 2007)
