2 - 8 May 2002
Issue No.584
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 2 - 8 May 2002 Issue No.584 |
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Nine-tenths of the law
Egypt's intellectual property rights law is in its final stages. Niveen Wahish finds out from a recent conference when the law will see light of day, and looks at worries that it will raise the price of medicine
Egypt's intellectual property rights (IPR) law, which has been in parliament since last year, is expected to be passed by the end of the current parliamentary session. The law, which supersedes all existing IPR legislation, must comply with the requirements of the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), which Egypt signed when it joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995.
In the brave new world of TRIPs, modern medicine may hurt us in the pocket
According to Hossam Badrawi, head of the education and scientific research committee in charge of discussing the law in parliament, three chapters in the four- chapter law, (copyrights, trademarks and plant varieties), have already been discussed. Talking during a conference on "Pharmaceutical Products and Intellectual Property Rights Protection" Badrawi said, "What remains are articles 19 to 64 of the first chapter on patent rights. We hope to finish discussing those articles by the end of this month." Badrawi added that in May the whole law will be reviewed as well as the remarks on the law made by other countries. A draft copy of the law was reviewed by the WTO last summer to ensure that it correlates with the TRIPS agreement. (The agreement gives other WTO members the right of review, just as Egypt may review the respective legislation of other countries).
Badrawi said that many fears about the law are unjustified. These fears mainly revolve around whether medicine will stay affordable if big companies can protect their investments and discourage competition by patenting their brands. Badrawi pointed out that while the patent office will be granting patents, the Ministry of Health has the right to negotiate the price of a given pharmaceutical with the manufacturer. It has the right to allow or deny the entry of competitive products.
In Badrawi's opinion, three issues need to be taken into account while the law remains in the making. He urged that the patent office be the only authority to grant patents, not the Ministry of Health. He stressed that a national intellectual property council should be created to oversee any possible compulsory licensing cases instead of the Ministry of Health. He argued that "compulsory licensing" (which allows the government to overturn a patent and license a product out to other manufacturers) is provided for in the law if: the patent terms requested by the company are too harsh, for reasons of national security or environment and food safety considerations, or if the patent owner is given notice and recompense.
Badrawi also pointed out that with the promulgation of the law, there should be a clear plan to ration the consumption of medicines by limiting over-the- counter sales. What is more important, he said, is that insurance schemes should be devised to enable the poor to pay for their medication rather than rely on the state.
"This is something that we should have gotten down to seven years ago. It is illogical that all our reaction has been one of denial," he said.
In his opinion, protecting the low- income brackets does not necessarily have to come at the expense of the national economy. "The government should not be subsidising a product or a service, except for low-income individuals," he said.
On a similar note, Makram Mehanna, chairman of Global Napi, an Egyptian private sector pharmaceuticals company, stressed the need for good, effective and safe medicine. But he said this cannot be done for free. "The cost of medicine has increased. If we want high quality medicine, then prices must increase."
He pointed out that cheap medicines are currently bought by both the poor and the rich. He suggested that instead of demanding that companies keep prices low, the government should devise a system by which it subsidises low- income individuals' private insurance schemes.
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