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Dear friends and colleagues We are pleased to share with you two press releases from civil society calling for an immediate moratorium on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations and to conduct an independent human rights review and assessment of the agreement. This is in response to a joint statement by ten UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights which have highlighted the human rights impacts of the TPPA, including on access to affordable medicines and the right to health. The
joint statement from the UN Special Rapporteurs is available here:
http://www.ohchr.org/FR/NewsEvents/Pages/ With best wishes, Third
World Network ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item 1 http://www.apnplus.org/main/Index.php?module=news&news=117 Asia-Pacific AIDS Groups Support UN Expert Call For Human Rights Impact Assessment of Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement AIDS Groups Alarmed as US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement continues to threaten access to affordable generic medicines; call for immediate moratorium on TPPA negotiations 24 June 2015, Bangkok, Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur- The Asia Pacific Network of Positive People (APN+), Positive Malaysian Treatment Access & Advocacy Group (MTAAG+) and the Vietnam Network of People living with HIV (VNP+) are sounding the alarm at the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations led by the United States with seven countries in the Asia-Pacific region i.e. Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Brunei. The negotiations that appear to have entered their last leg have drawn the concern of UN experts who are warning against the adverse human rights impacts of this agreement. In June 2015, 10 United Nations experts issued a joint statement calling for a human rights impact assessment of trade and investment agreements including the TPPA. The UN experts have highlighted concerns that the TPPA may contain provisions that cater "to the business interests of pharmaceutical monopolies and extending intellectual property protection." "Today, in the Asia-Pacific region, 2nd and 3rd line AIDS medicines are exorbitantly priced. US multinational pharmaceutical company Gilead is playing games with the lives of people living with Hepatitis C by creating a complex pathway of licenses, price negotiations and collection of personal data before patients can access sofosbuvir. Cancer treatment prices have skyrocketed. This is what the US-promoted patent rules in the WTO that require 20 year monopolies on medicines to be granted have resulted in. Now the next generation of international intellectual property obligations pushed by the US through the TPPA would keep even more medicines unaffordable for longer periods of time,"said Edward Low of MTAAG+. Leaked TPPA negotiation texts show that the US is pushing intellectual property provisions far in excess of what developing countries like Vietnam and Malaysia have agreed to in the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Known as 'TRIPS-plus,' these measures are contrary to the WTO's Doha Declaration which re-affirmed that TRIPS "can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of WTO member's right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all." "In Vietnam, we are already concerned by announcements from international aid agencies including the US' PEPFAR programme of their withdrawal of funds and treatment programmes from our country,"said Do Dang Dong of VNP+. "Estimates suggest that under our current budget, if Vietnam was forced to agree to all of the US' demands on patents and intellectual property in the TPPA, only 30% of people living with HIV who need treatment would receive it. This is an unthinkable scenario for us." The UN experts have also highlighted the risks of investor-state dispute mechanisms that allow corporates to sue governments in private arbitration. They note that experience demonstrates that the ability of governments to legislate in the public interest have been put at risk including in relation to access to generic and essential medicines, and reduction of smoking. "The call by the UN experts is a confirmation of our fears over the TPPA negotiations. APN+ members are in 6 of the TPPA countries: Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Japan and will be among the first to face the consequences of the TPPA on their health and lives. We are therefore calling on all governments negotiating the TPPA to immediately cease the negotiations and conduct an independent human rights review and impact assessment,"said ShibaPhurailatpam of APN+. "Any trade agreement that further strengthens the hands of the multinational pharmaceutical industry to play games with the lives and health of millions of patients in the Asia-Pacific region is immoral and unconscionable," he added. For more information contact: Mr. Do Dang Dong, Vietnam Network of People Living with HIV (VNP+), +84974243366, dongdodang@gmail.com; Mr. Shiba Phurailatpam, Asia-Pacific Network of Positive People (APN+), +66 8660 00738, shiba@apnplus.org; Mr. Edward Low, Positive Malaysian Treatment Access & Advocacy Group (MTAAG+), +6012-3278812, erd_2000_1999@yahoo.co.uk Notes for Editors: 1.
UN Experts Joint Statement, 2 June 2015: This month, 10 UN
experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone
to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and
Mental Health issued a joint statement highlighting human rights
concerns over ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations including
the TPPA. The experts are calling for transparency in the negotiations,
consultation with all stakeholders, publication of all draft texts,
human rights impact assessments both before and after the FTAs are
concluded for governments to explain how they will uphold human rights
obligations if they sign trade and investment agreements and for the
trade agreements to include robust safeguards to ensure full protection
and enjoyment of human rights. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/ 2. TRIPS-plus provisions in the TPPA that are of concern: - DATA EXCLUSIVITY that prevents governments from relying on clinical trial data to register generic versions of medicines even if they are off-patent, their patents have expired or are revoked & complicates the issuance of compulsory licences. Reports suggest that the US is asking for 12 years of data exclusivity for biological medicines. - PATENT TERM EXTENTION that will extend patent life beyond 20 years. - INCREASING PATENT SCOPE that significantly increases the number of medicines under patent by forcing governments to give 20-year monopolies on new uses & new forms of old medicines thus allowing the extension of monopolies on these medicines through minor changes in drug formulation or process. - PATENT LINKAGE that prevents the registration of generic versions of patented medicines and undermines the early working & research exceptions thus delaying generic entry even when a compulsory licence is issued, the patent expires or is revoked. - INVESTMENT RULES that allow foreign companies to sue governments in private international arbitration over domestic health policies like compulsory licences, health safeguards in patent laws, price reduction measures & may prevent governments from promoting local production. - BORDER MEASURES that will deny medicines to patients in other developing countries with custom officials seizing generic medicines being imported, in transit or that are being exported. - INJUNCTIONS that undermine the independence of the judiciary in developing countries to place the right to health of patients over profits of multinational companies. - OTHER IP ENFORCEMENT MEASURES that put third parties like treatment providers at risk of government actions & court cases and may draw the whole manufacturing, distribution & supply chain for generic medicines into litigation. For
an in-depth analysis of the TPPA proposals that may adversely impact
access to medicines and public health see UNITAID's report on the
TPPA: http://www.unitaid.eu/ 3. Study on the Impact of the TPPA on access to HIV treatment in Vietnam: In 2014, an impact assessment of the provisions being negotiated in the TPPA on intellectual property on access to HIV treatment in Vietnam was published. Highlights from the study titled, "Assessing the impact of alternative patent systems on the cost of health care: Vietnam, the TPPA and HIV treatment in Vietnam", include: - Official estimates suggest that in 2014 Vietnam had around 256,000 people living with HIV. By the end of 2013 antiretroviral (ARV) therapy was provided to 82,687 people - 68% of those meeting the clinical criteria for such medicines. - Using the current Vietnamese patent regime as our base case, we analyse the potential impact of alternative patent regimes on access to ARVs in Vietnam. The two other scenarios investigated are a patent regime making full use of TRIPS flexibilities, and a regime based on the US proposals in the 2014 leaked draft of the TPPA intellectual property chapter. - Our results indicate 82% of the HIV population eligible for treatment would receive ARVs under a full TRIPS flexibility scenario, while only 30% of Vietnam's eligible HIV patients would have access to ARVs under the US 2014 TPPA proposals - more than halving the proportion treated compared to the current 68%. Similar price impacts can be expected for other countries participating in the TPPA, though these are less economically vulnerable than Vietnam. The complete study is available here: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2536254 4. The Bangkok Declaration on Free Trade Agreements and Access to Medicines: http://www.bilaterals.org/?the-bangkok-declaration-on-free&lang=fr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item 2 http://canadians.org/media/top-un-human-rights-experts-tpp Top UN Human Rights Experts say TPP a concern for human rights: human rights evaluation must precede negotiations Joint
Media Release Geneva - After ten United Nations experts said that the TPP[1], the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, and the TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could potentially harm human rights, prominent human rights voices in TPP countries sounded the alarm calling for a halt to further TPP negotiations until proper human rights impact assessments are done. Amongst others, these include former Commissioners from the Malaysian and New Zealand Human Rights Commissions, Oxfam America, The Council of Canadians (Canada), Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (Australia), Human Rights Now (Japan), Derechos Digitales (Chile), Health Action International Peru, The Project of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Mexico). On June 2nd, 10 United Nations human rights experts expressed concern about the TPP's potential adverse impact on human rights. They recommended that human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) should be done for the TPP before the negotiations go any further. They criticized the extreme secrecy around the talks and ISDS, the Investor-State Dispute Settlement provisions which allow foreign corporations to sue countries over laws and policies which curtail their profit on investments. The rapporteurs said that this would have a chilling effect on countries' ability to enact laws to protect environmental and social standards.[2] They also drew attention to the potential detrimental impact these treaties and agreements may have on the enjoyment of human rights as enshrined in legally binding instruments, whether civil, cultural, economic, political or social, saying, 'Our concerns relate to the rights to life, food, water and sanitation, health, housing, education, science and culture, improved labour standards, an independent judiciary, a clean environment.' Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb has claimed that TPP negotiations could be concluded in as little as one week. The TPP is an all-encompassing free trade agreement currently being negotiated between 12 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. Social, environmental, and labour regulations, privacy, medicine costs, public services, financial regulation and farming are some of the issues affected by this agreement. Comments from country experts: Malaysia Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah, a former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia (SUHAKAM)) and Deputy Secretary General of the Society for the Promotion of Human Rights (Persatuan Promosi Hak Asasi Manusia, PROHAM) said that 'in light of the concerns expressed and recommendations by the ten United Nations human rights experts, SUHAKAM must do a human rights impact assessment on the TPPA before any further TPPA negotiations are held or decisions are made on the TPPA. The Malaysian government must provide sufficient funding to SUHAKAM to conduct such a human rights impact assessment.' Contact: Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah: mdshaani@gmail.com, mobile phone +6013-3363647 New Zealand 'The Human Rights Foundation of Aotearoa New Zealand (HRF) is calling on the New Zealand Human Rights Commission to undertake a human rights impact assessment for the TPPA (and for the government to adequately resource the HRC to do so) before TPPA negotiations go any further. This is in light of concern expressed by 10 United Nations human rights experts about the TPPA's potential adverse impact on human rights.' ---Peter Hosking, Chairperson, HRF and former Commissioner at the New Zealand Human Rights Commission Contact: Peter Hosking, mobile phone: +6421660275 Japan Kazuko Ito, the Secretary General of Japan based Human Rights Now (http://hrn.or.jp/eng/) said that 'the concerns raised by the UN experts deserve the utmost consideration at the TPPA negotiation table. We are gravely concerned that the negotiation process totally excludes communities which may be affected, and denies rights to information and participation. Further we are concerned that a wide range of human rights protection in Japan will be at stake as a result of the negotiation, especially in relation to the ISDS section. Japan should make all necessary efforts to prevent any deterioration of the human rights situation for people potentially affected by the TPPA.' Contact: Kazuko Ito, info@hrn.or.jp, +81-3-3835-2110 Peru Javier Llamoza, from Acci๓n Internacional para la Salud de Per๚ (Health Action International, Peru), said that 'the TPP is a major new obstacle to Peru's ability to meet the need for treatment to which all people are entitled, and to improve the care provided by the public health system, which primarily serves the poor and extremely poor. The human right to health is seriously threatened by this agreement.' Contact: Javier Llamoza, Acci๓n Internacional para la Salud - Red Ge, mobile phone: +51998603206, javierllamoza@aislac.org Australia 'The UN rapporteurs' statement underlined the concerns of Australian community organisations that the TPP could have a negative impact on many areas of human rights. The TPP text should be released now to enable a full Human Rights Impact Assessment of the TPP,' said Dr Patricia Ranald Coordinator of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET). Contact: Dr Patricia Ranald, AFTINET, campaign@aftinet.org.au, mobile phone: +61 419 695 841 Canada 'Human rights are the fundamental basis for all societies. It is essential that we know the true human cost of such agreements before we even consider them. Considering the scope and power of the TPP, and how most of us have no access to the details, it is definitely concerning that governments don't stop and consider what they are getting into. Another round of negotiations is ludicrous in this context.' --- Maude Barlow, National Chairperson, Council of Canadians, Canada Contact: Leila Marshy, Media Relations, Council of Canadians, mobile phone +1613 618-4761 Chile 'If democracy is really about the active participation of the citizens in political decisions and the protection of their basic human rights, then the TPP is one of the greatest threats to democracy right now. And not just because it is decided behind people's backs, but because it sets in stone the rules about how our public decisions in critical sectors of our space will be made.' --- Claudio Ruiz, Derechos Digitales (Chile) Contact: Vladimir Garay, Derechos Digitales, phone: (+56 2) 2702 7108; prensa@derechosdigitales.org USA 'At best, trade can be an engine for poverty reduction. At worst, free trade agreements like the TPP can undermine universal human rights. The devil is in the details, and the details on the TPP are still secret. But the leaked texts signal the worst case scenario. Oxfam welcomes the engagement of UN experts and agrees that only a full human rights impact assessment will show whether the agreement is written to benefit special interests or the wider public interest.' --- Stephanie Burgos, Economic Justice Policy Manager, Oxfam America Contact: Laura Rusu, Policy & Campaigns Media Manager Oxfam America, office phone: +1 (202) 496-1169, mobile phone: +1 (202) 459-3739 Mexico 'In the discussion on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and labor rights it is fundamental that the signing states retake the concept of "decent work", from the International Labour Organisation, as a way to ratify their obligation to guarantee the respect of labor rights (decent income, safe working conditions, social security, liberty to free association, among the most important). For Mexico, the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which is the closest reference for what may occur with the implementation of the TPP, led to the implementation of structural reforms that have meant the loss of fundamental human rights such as: the right to work, the right to unionize, the right to have access to decent income, the right to just working conditions and to access justice. The signing of these trade agreements, in which transnational corporations play a determining role, shall, as a consequence, cause the implementation of policies, translated into structural reforms, which shall increase violations of rights and lead to the government's failure to fulfil its principle obligations: to protect, respect and guarantee human rights.' --- Alejandra Ancheita, Executive Director of ProDESC (The Project of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Mexico) Contact: Adriana Aguilar, ProDESC, adriana@prodesc.org.mx, office phone: +52 (55) 5212 2230 and +52 (55) 5212 2229, mobile phone: +52 1 55 15 03 24 10 ________________________________________ [1] Also known as the TPPA [2]
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/
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