NASTY

"Moves in the US against Thailand - Bangkok Post
Bangkok targeted over breaking drug patents

A Republican congressman in the United States has called on President George W. Bush to suspend Thailand's status as a major non-Nato ally pending proof of the restoration of democracy in the kingdom. Mark Kirk submitted a bill to this effect amid sustained lobbying in the US against Thailand's overriding of patents for medicines to treat HIV/Aids and heart disease.

''Eight months after the military coup, despite promises by the military leaders to the contrary, Thailand still has not drafted a permanent constitution, held a referendum, or called elections,'' Mr Kirk said in the proposal which he tabled on May 17. The US President should ''terminate Thailand's status as a major non-Nato ally until he can certify to the Congress that democracy has been restored to the country,'' Mr Kirk said in further remarks to the speaker. He said he was ''introducing the Thailand Democracy Act of 2007 to push Thailand's military government to hold democratic elections''.

Thailand was designated a major non-Nato ally on Dec 30, 2003.

The status makes the country eligible for several benefits related to the purchase and maintenance of arms from the US, training, and participation in counter-terrorism activities.

Meanwhile, James V. deLong, special counsel to law firm Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert, deplored what he called '' a campaign of intellectual property theft'' by the government of Thailand. In a letter to four US government figures, he called on them to look into the matter and to ''act swiftly using any and all available political and policy tools at your disposal''. The letters were addressed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt, and US Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

In a separate move, the Washington-based Hundson Institute has sent a letter to the World Health Organisation's director-general, Margaret Chan, demanding the WHO ''investigate important quality and safety issues pertaining to HIV/Aids treatment in Thailand''.

Institute director Jeremiah Norris wrote: ''Thai patients deserve to be informed of the health consequences inherent in current treatment regimens, especially through the use of an anti-retroviral drug, GPO-VIR.'' He urged the WHO chief to sponsor an independent evaluation of GPO-VIR to prove that it is as safe and efficient as the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, the drug's manufacturer, claims. The letter was also addressed to the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Thai Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla, and Suwit Wibulpolprasert, the Thai representative to the WHO.

This follows a recent move by American lobby group USA for Innovation, which published full-page advertisements in Thai newspapers claiming the locally-made GPO-VIR had an unusually high resistance rate among patients using it. The advertisements prompted the GPO to file a libel charge against the lobbyist on May 15."

Bangkok Post

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"US ENVOY WANTS TO HEAL RIFT - Bangkok Post

Thailand's issuing of compulsory licences to bypass patents on Aids and heart drugs has rattled the multi-billion dollar pharmaceuticals business. The country has been closely watched, particularly by American firms holding patents, and by the US administration.

US ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce reflected on the issue in an interview with Apiradee Treerutkuarkul. Following are excerpts from the interview.

What is the US view of Thailand's announcement of compulsory licensing (CL)?
We understand Thailand's rights under Trips [the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights] to use compulsory licensing. But it was meant to be the last measure. As far as the embassy is concerned, in terms of transparency, we did not have much advance notice at all that Thailand was going to go ahead with compulsory licensing. The public health minister said publicly that Thailand had tried to get drug companies' attention for two years. That is the minister's statement, but all I can say is that we at the embassy did not have any real warning that it was coming. And the spirit of the Trips agreement is that a compulsory licence is like the last option, and the preferred order of things is the country and the drug companies [first] try to negotiate a mutually acceptable price. Our preferred outcome [for the] US government is that Abbott [Laboratories] and the Ministry of Public Health come up with a mutually acceptable price, because the key here is finding the balance between the high cost of financing innovation and next-generation drugs and the need to be able to provide those drugs to poor people who are suffering from life-threatening diseases. Compulsory licensing is one way to do that, but it is hopefully the measure you use [after] trying everything else first.

Why was there doubt over the transparency of the process in the latest special 301 report of the Office of the US Trade Representative?

As for the special 301 report in which Thailand has been elevated to the Priority Watch List (PWL), what I want to make clear is that the decision was based on the whole spectrum of intellectual property rights (IPR), not just on the CL issue. In fact, the CL issue was just one among many concerns ranging from DVDs, music CDs, books, software and brand-name apparel. Had there not been a flap about CL, I suspect that Thailand would have been elevated to the PWL anyway because we have been hearing from both Thai and American intellectual property rights holders in Thailand that the situation in terms of enforcement has been getting worse. The flap over CL caused most people to conclude that it must be a form of retaliation. It is a timing issue more than anything. I believe that with the overall IPR problems in Thailand, even without CL there still would have been a decision [to put Thailand on the] PWL.

What is the stance of the US on balancing protection of intellectual property rights and humanitarian needs, especially on the issue of access to drugs in developing countries, including Thailand?

Frankly, there are extreme views on both sides. We all know about some of the publications like the Adelman article [in the Washington Times] in the US. Some charges and allegations have been made against the pharmaceuticals industry here.

As usual, the truth lies somewhere in-between ... The humanitarian issues are important and the Clinton Foundation's announcement that it would create a stockpile of drugs for 16 countries including Thailand, where they could make available expensive drugs for the poor, is a good example of creativity that is very useful in finding that balance, because the companies have to spend massive amounts of money to create an innovation and come up with new drugs to help people who need them. Are they supposed to bear the full burden? Are their stock holders supposed to bear the whole burden of the cost of the research, etc? There is an issue of subsidies, and whether some of the medicines should be subsidised by the governments of the countries. So there are a lot of different ways to do this, rather than looking at it in just black and white.

You also had an opportunity to bring pharmaceutical companies to meet the public health minister? What was that all about?

The role of the US government is to try to facilitate conversation and negotiation, striking the balance, suggesting creative ideas, etc. The only thing the embassy was doing in bringing some of the pharmaceutical companies to meet the previous minister [Phinij Jarusombat] was providing the opportunity for the ministry to hear from the companies. The role of the embassy was not advocacy on that particular issue, but simply door-opening. We do this for a number of ministers and a number of different sectors.

Facilitation of communication between American companies and the Royal Thai Government in every sector is one of the most important roles of the embassy. The more conversations and communication the better, as far as I am concerned....."

Full article : http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/22May2007_news18.php

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