Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 7 • Number 32 • 1st October 2003
Canada To Be First G-7 Country To Allow Export Of Generic HIV/Aids Drugs
BRAZIL AGREES TO GROW GM CROPS
Last week, Brazil authorised the planting of GM soy until the end of the year, and the sale of GM soy crops until the end of 2004. This is considered a victory for US-based Monsanto Co., which wants to sell its Roundup Ready soybean seeds to the second largest producer after the US and recoup lost profits from widespread illegal use of their product. Although planting and sale of GM soy crop is allowed until end of 2004, the government has not given permission to sell or import GM soy seed. Farmers will only be able to plant GM seed stocks they already possess. "It would still be two to three years before we can go to the producer with any significant volume of GM seeds," said Caio Vidor, director general of Embrapa Soja, the government’s crop research company. Experts estimate that 15-17 percent of the country’s 52 million metric tons of soybean crop are grown from seeds smuggled from neighbouring countries, especially from across the Argentine border.
In response, Greenpeace said it would challenge this move, claiming that the authorisation is unconstitutional. A court order in 2000 required environmental studies to be carried out before GM crops were planted, but there have been no such studies. "We will go to court immediately and so will the Green party and the public prosecutor," said Tatiana Carvalho, co-ordinator of the consumer rights campaign with Greenpeace Brasil. Opponents to legalisation are also frustrated that the government making this decision includes the Workers Party, which resisted GM crops when it was in opposition.
"Brazil removes block on GM soya," CHECKBIOTECH.ORG, Friday September 26, 2003; "Brazil’s president to decide whether to legalize genetically modified crops," SIOUX CITY JOURNAL, 19 September 2003; "Brazil agrees to grow GM crops," THE GUARDIAN, 26 September 2003.
Responding to a call by former Canadian politician Stephen Lewis — currently the UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS — the Canadian government announced on 26 September that it would move to amend patent laws to allow generic pharmaceutical companies to produce and export certain patent-protected drugs. The call by Lewis came during his address at the 13th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA), which ran from 21-26 September in Nairobi, Kenya. The possibility of enacting such an amendment, the fine print of which is still being considered by the Canadian government, was opened up by a 30 August agreement at the WTO on the matter (see BRIDGES Weekly, 4 September 2003). This agreement, flowing out of a deal cut at the 2001 Ministerial Conference in Doha, spelled out the conditions under which countries without pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity can import generic versions of drugs still under patent. Noting the inherent flaws of the compromise agreement, Richard Elliot, Director of Policy & Research for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, noted that "the deal could, if robustly implemented with a minimum of interference, help countries circumvent patent restrictions and import generic versions of patented medicines if they cannot manufacture them within their own borders".
For more information on the UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS, visit http://stephenlewisfoundation.org/index.html
For more details on the ICASA meeting, visit http://www.icasanairobi2003.org/
"Ottawa heeds call on AIDS," GLOBE AND MAIL, 26 September 2003; "Canada Can Carry Much More" GLOBE AND MAIL, 23 September 2003.
US SHRIMP FISHERS SEEK PROTECTION AGAINST ASIAN IMPORTS
Shrimpers from eight US states recently asked the government to impose a tariff to protect them from low-cost Asian competitors. Shrimp is now the most popular US seafood and more than 85 percent of US shrimp is imported, at a value of US$ 3.4 billion a year. US shrimp imports almost doubled from 1996 to 2002 and have increased by 14 percent in the first half of 2003, while US shrimp production has remained flat. Correspondingly, US domestic prices of shrimp have almost halved since 1998. The long-established American fishing industry has been unable to compete and so has leveled allegations of dumping against several countries. The case could damage relations with several of the US’s largest Asian trading partners, including Thailand, Vietnam, and India. Trade relations with Vietnam are already tense as a result of US tariffs placed on imported catfish earlier this year (see BRIDGES Weekly, 28 July 2003). At the time Vietnam feared that its shrimp industry might be the next target of the US fishing industry. Vietnam has denied dumping shrimp into the US market and has developed a cynical view of US views on free trade. "It seems totally unfair that they [the US] can insist on free trade and opening of the Vietnamese market and whenever there is a successful Vietnamese export, the Americans slap it down," says Tony Foster, chair of the Hanoi chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam. Vietnam is the second largest exporter of shrimp to the US after Thailand.
"US shrimp fishermen seek tariffs safety net," FINANCIAL TIMES, 29 September 2003.
FIERCE BATTLE OVER REVIEW OF EU CHEMICAL POLICY CONTINUES
The European Commission is in the process of revising its proposal for the EU’s new chemicals legislation REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restrictions of Chemicals) in response to comments received during a public consultation period. The revised (and as yet unofficial) proposal introduces some key changes regarding, inter alia, the scope of the system, safety assessment requirements, substances in articles, and substitution with less dangerous chemicals. The revision is fast becoming one of the most fought over policy developments in EU history, pitching civil society groups and industry against each other in an effort to strike a balance between safety and competitiveness concerns. The May proposal attracted severe criticism from industry groups, with backing from some governments, for being overly burdensome and harmful to industry competitiveness. To address some of these concerns, the revised proposal would, inter alia, no longer apply to polymers, thereby removing an estimated 30,000 substances from the system (although registration might be required for "certain" polymers at an unspecified date). Moreover, the requirements for undertaking chemical safety assessment have been considerably reduced in the revised proposal. In an effort to address concerns expressed by the EU’s main trading partners, the previously vague provisions for chemicals in imported articles have been clarified and softened. Environmental and consumer have, however, strongly criticised the revisions, which they said revealed the European Commission’s plan "to make far-reaching concessions to industry". The Commission is expected to finalise its proposal by 29 October.
For more detail, see the forthcoming issue of BRIDGES Trade BioRes, Vol. 3 No. 17, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/index.htm.
"Chemicals: Commission modifies legislative plans after successful consultation," EURACTIV, 25 September 2003; "European Chemicals Authorization Plan Changed to Suit Industry," ENS, 24 September 2003; "WWF slams Chirac-Schroeder-Blair letter against draft EU chemical law," WWF, 23 September 2002; "NGOs call on European Commission to stop reversing on chemicals reform," NGO PRESS RELEASE, 25 September 2003.