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Thursday, March 11, 2004

Canadian politics

The Right Honourable Paul Martin
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1A 0A6

Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology
c/o Louise M. Thibault, Clerk
House of Commons
180 Wellington Street
671, Wellington Building
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1A 0A6

Dear Prime Minister,

Re: Bill C-9, Act to amend the Patent and the Food and Drug Act to permit the export of generic medicines to countries in need

We write to congratulate you on assuming the office of Prime Minister of Canada, and we welcome your public support for an amendment to Canadian patent law that would allow the export of generic pharmaceuticals produced under compulsory licence to countries in need.

The initiative could make a significant difference in the lives of millions of poor people needing affordable medicines, and Canada will set a global precedent with this legislation. As you probably know a ‘Declaration on Partnership to Fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia’ has been recently adopted by delegates from 55 States convened in Dublin by initiative of the Irish Presidency of the European Union. Following your example the declaration commits the states that have adopted the Declaration to early implementation of the World Trade Organisation decision of 30 August 2003 on improving access of the poorest countries to the medicines necessary for those living with HIV/AIDS. The Dublin declaration, coupled by the European Parliament resolution UE P5-TA 52 2003, give advocates ground for demanding their government to join Canada in implementing legislation that would allow developing countries to contract European generic drug producers to provide affordable life saving drugs.

Since the Canadian initiative will set the reference also for the European Union and other wealthy countries, we wish to respectfully draw your attention to some elements of Bill C-9 that could undermine the intended purpose of the Canadian initiative.

We represent humanitarian organizations, HIV/AIDS organizations, and people living with HIV/AIDS and their advocates, from Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. We have intervened in the global debates at the WTO, and we hailed steps such as Bill C-56 (the precursor to Bill C-9, introduced in Canada’s Parliament last November) as the right way to address the global crisis posed by HIV/AIDS, and particularly the treatment gap that the same World Health Organization has recently declared as a public health emergency. We were also pleased to see from recent media that you recognize
there are ‘shortcomings’ with Bill C-56 as tabled, which makes us even more confident in sharing with you the main problems we see with Bill C-56 as itcurrently stands:

§ the provision that would allow patent-holding pharmaceutical companies totake over contracts negotiated by generic manufacturers with developingcountries and thereby block the issuance of licence to the generic manufacturer, and to do so every 2 years;

§ the existence of a limited list of pharmaceutical products covered by schedule 1 and a process for amending the schedule that does not adequately reflect or protect the right of sovereign countries to determine for themselves when to use compulsory licenses to importing generic pharmaceuticals;

§ the exclusion of some countries from the scheme set out in Schedules 2 through 4, in particularly numerous developing countries facing public health needs with limited resources;

§ the failure to let generics manufacturers supply lower-cost pharmaceuticals directly to non-governmental organizations delivering health care in developing countries.

These shortcomings represent serious flaws that will undermine the effectiveness of Canada’s initiative, but all of them can be remedied. If so, Canada will set a worthy global precedent that will make a concrete contribution to saving and extending lives in the developing world. With this legislation, Canada will become the first country to implement the WTO
decision and the initiative has already received worldwide attention and strong support.

As global citizens, we urge you to fix the shortcoming underlined in this letter. If done properly, this is an initiative of which Canada can be rightly proud. But if Canada passes legislation that is ineffective and provides unnecessary entitlements to patent-holding multinational pharmaceutical companies, at the expense of poor patients in the developing world, the legislation will reflect poorly on Canada and – most important - will be of little benefit to those who desperately need access to more affordable medicines.
posted by sasha @ 3:32 PM

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