DISAGREEMENT OVER DATA PROTECTION HOLDING UP ANDEAN-US FTA
Ecuador’s opposition to US demands on access to test data for clinical drug trials has emerged as a primary obstacle in the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) talks between the US and a group of three Andean countries. Trade officials from the US, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru met in Cartagena, Colombia from 19-23 September for the twelfth round of Andean-US FTA negotiations (Bolivia participates as an observer). The talks are being held up primarily due to persisting differences among the parties on intellectual property rights and agriculture.
As part of the intellectual property rights obligations in the FTA, the US wants a five-year protection period for the clinical test data that pharmaceutical companies submit to government sanitary authorities when seeking the right to put a new drug on the market. Colombia and Peru have accepted this. Ecuador, however, insists that the data protection period should be no longer than three years.
The agriculture negotiations are isolated from the broader talks, and have been continuing on three separate bilateral tracks between the US and each of the Andean countries. Little of substance is expected to emerge from those discussions. This would disappoint the Andean countries, which have been seeking increased access to the US market for their farm products (see BRIDGES Weekly, 14 September 2005).
The Colombian and Peruvian governments maintain that they would like to wrap up the talks by October. Ecuador, in contrast, has said that it is in no rush to conclude the talks, as a result of the data protection issue.
PUENTES Quincenal, 21 September 2005.
CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL: PROTECT ESSENTIAL SERVICES FROM GATS
Global consumer advocate federation Consumers International (CI) has said that water, electricity, telecommunications and other essential services should be outside the remit of the WTO General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS). This was part of a broader agenda for placing consumers "at the heart" of the global trading system outlined by representatives of the organisation during a 20-21 September workshop in Geneva. A CI report calls for a General Agreement on Public Services (GAPS) to establish rights-based principles for the provision of essential services, whether by government or private bodies. These would include universal access safety, information availability, equity, accountability and sustainability.
CI, which counts over 250 affiliate groups around the world, stressed that liberalising and privatising such services does not always benefit consumers, particularly when countries do not have sufficient regulatory capacity. The organisation claims that its research demonstrates "no clear link" between GATS commitments and improved "pro-consumer" provision of public services. GATS, it warns, may lead to ‘false liberalisation’ in basic services, i.e., underregulated, private companies, often foreign-owned, would take monopoly control of provision.
Presenters urged WTO negotiators to ensure that countries are not pressured to open their water, electricity and telecom sectors as part of the ongoing services negotiations. They also urged them to expand the GATS exemption for "services supplied in the exercise of government authority" to cover all services that have public good characteristics. CI also urged participants to consider reforms to make the WTO more transparent and accountable, and end ‘passive’ consensus decision-making.
CI’s "Bridging the gaps: the case for a general agreement on public services" is available at http://www.consumersinternational.org/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=94123&int1stParentNodeID=89645&int2ndParentNodeID=89645.
Expanded coverage of the workshop will be provided in the upcoming issue of BRIDGES Trade BioRes.
ICTSD reporting; "Consumer group seeks global utilities pact," FINANCIAL TIMES, 22 September 2005.