India tells UN meeting it will not accept data exclusivity as part of FTA with EU

India formally announced at the UN High Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS held in New York, USA, earlier this month that it will not accept data exclusivity, a provision harmful to access to affordable medicines, as part of a free trade agreement (FTA) currently being negotiated with the European Union.

The proposed FTA between the EU and India has caused considerable debate and objections from the latter’s drugmakers as well as AIDS activists and non-governmental organizations. Much of the opposition focused on an EU request for a data exclusivity clause which opponents claim would prevent India from producing cheap generics. A conclusion to the talks had been expected this spring, but deliberations are still continuing (The Pharma Letter March 15).

Although this is an important victory for the global mobilization against the potential negative impact of the FTA on access to medicines, further harmful measures remain on the negotiating table, said the international medical humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), commenting on the situation yesterday. In 2010, MSF launched the HANDS OFF campaign to call on the EU to drop the policies harmful to access to medicines being pushed as a part of the EU-India FTA (TPL October 12, 2010).