Differential pricing
A group of developing countries has said that progress towards creating differential pricing arrangements for pharmaceuticals should not undermine the right of their governments to authorise the emergency production of drugs, as well as parallel imports of low cost lines.
The suggestion was made during a meeting of the Council for TRIPs, the agreement on trade related intellectual property rights), at the World Trade Organisation, by a number of African countries, Barbados, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Thailand and others. The WTO is currently staging a review of the TRIPs agreement.
The group added that they 'favoured discussions on differential pricing arrangements', but added that they are only part of a broader set of initiatives to improve access to medications.
They also warned that they would act at the oncoming Ministerial Conference of the WTO, in Qatar in November, to 'ensure that the TRIPs agreement does not in any way undermine the legitimate right of WTO Members to formulate their own public health policies'.