EuropaWorld 24/3/2001 Commissioner Defends TRIPS but Acknowledges NGO Concerns

Speaking at a conference organised by Oxfam in Brussels, the European Commissioner for Trade, Pascal Lamy went out of his way to address specific NGO concerns over the Protection of Intellectual Property.

These centre on TRIPS - Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights - an agreement reached during world trade negotiations and supervised by the World Trade Organisation that seeks to protect intellectual property across the world. Its defenders argue that this is essential if new investment in research is to be forthcoming.

However, many NGO activists think that TRIPS imposes unfair and impossible burdens on developing countries which need free access to western technology, particularly in fields such as health, they argue.

The European Union defends TRIPS and during the conference, which brought together NGOs, academics and trade experts, Mr Lamy said that he believed the agreement provided sufficient flexibility for developing and least developed countries to set their intellectual property regimes in such a way as to enable them to do whatever they thought necessary.

He said: "As I believe it is important to protect creativity and innovation, I support the TRIPS agreement. I also support this agreement as I believe it provides the requisite flexibility to allow developing countries to reconcile specific policy objectives in areas such as public health and bio-diversity with IPR laws. However, if it is felt that there are fundamental problems in implementing this flexibility, the EU is prepared to promote discussion, within the WTO and other relevant organisations, to address and resolve these difficulties."

Focusing on the issue of access to essential medicines, Mr Lamy underlined the EU's commitment. He outlined the Commission's strategy for action which includes a commitment to working with the World Health Organisation, the World Intellectual Property Organisation and the World Trade Organisation to address the link between TRIPS and health issues.

In addition, Mr Lamy underlined the importance the Commission attaches to pursuing its policy of engaging constructively with NGOs and with civil society with the aim of reaching a global solution to the problem.