Letter to GF Executive Director from Developed Countries NGO Delegation

13 December 2010

Dear Michel ,
We are writing to you as Developed Countries NGOs delegation, to attract your attention to a critical issue that will have huge impact on the Global Fund critical role in access to medicines. We have serious concerns about the EU negotiating position in the EU-India Free Trade Agreements (FTA).
As you know, India is the pharmacy of the developing countries where millions of people depend on affordable medicines manufactured in India. Over 80% of the medicine purchased by the Global Fund are manufactured in India. The EU is demanding that India adopts stricter intellectual property rules for pharmaceuticals such as data exclusivity and IP enforcement. These measures, which are TRIP+ would reverse years of hard-gained advances in the treatment of HIV, TB , and malaria.
We welcome the EU indication that it would place a legally binding reference to the Doha declaration on TRIPS and public health. However it would be mostly irrelevant if a legally binding, stricter level of IP protection is introduced in the FTA.
Therefore we urge you to use the influence of the Global Fund to ensure that the EU would not introduce these damaging measures and we urge you to put out a public statement regarding the Global Fund position from such negotiations.
Yours sincerely,
Joanne Carter, Board member Developed Country NGO delegation
Dr. Mohga Kamal-Yanni, Alternate Board member Developed Country NGO delegation