Risk Of Wrongful Medicines Seizures Seen In EU-Central America Trade Deal

This news covers an aspect of what we saw last year when Dutch authorities blocked generic medicine shipments destined for Nigeria and Brazil. The current trade negotiations between the EU and Central America try to strike a balance between access to medicine and enforcing the intellectual property regime. While both are needed, it remains to be seen how this balance with be achieved.

Best regards, Joao

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A new accord designed to bolster political and economic ties between the European Union and Central America could result in greater seizures of medicines whenever pharmaceutical companies allege that their patents have been infringed, public health advocates have warned. The EU is pushing for robust intellectual property clauses to be inserted in the “association agreement” under negotiation between the 27-country bloc and six Central American nations: Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and Nicaragua.

Source: Intellectual Property Watch