Access to medicines
Drug patents in French-speaking Africa
TRIPS and the Bangui agreement - reccommendations for OAPI countries
Authors:
P. Boulet; Gilles-Bernard Forte
Publisher:
Access to Essential Medicines Campaign, MSF, 2000
This paper summarises the measures included in the original 1977 Bangui Agreement, which established the African Organization for Intellectual Property (OAPI) and regulates patents and IP in 15 west African states. It goes on to discuss the revised agreement which brought IP regulation in that region into line with the WTO TRIPS Agreement. The revised agreement strengthens IPR protection beyond that required under the WTO rules.
The report concludes:
The revised Bangui Agreement (1999)has strengthened the rights of patent holders:
- by extending the period of protection
- by recognizing that imports are sufficient to work a patent, and
- by setting stricter conditions for the granting of compulsory licenses.
These new provisions will certainly not encourage the transfer of technology, which is necessary for the development of the pharmaceutical industry in the region, and may result in a greater dependence on drug imports for these countries.
Noting that the Bangui Agreement is currently in the process of being ratified by OAPI Member States, MSF, UNAIDS and WHO recommend the following:
- Countries use the transitional period defined under TRIPS to prepare for dealing with the consequences of their commitments, in particular with regard to the pharmaceutical sector.
- Developing countries and least-developed countries should not put in place patent regulations that are more stringent than the minimum provisions of the TRIPS Agreement. MSF, UNAIDS and WHO encourage countries to study and carefully monitor the following:
- drug prices and generic drug competition;
- local production, technology transfers, voluntary and compulsory licenses;
- parallel imports;
- innovation.
- In adapting national and sub-regional legislation to conform with the TRIPS Agreement, countries should fully take into consideration the included safeguards. Moreover, the Bangui Agreement, in conformity with the TRIPS Agreement, should provide for the possibility of compulsory licenses in case of a public health emergency, without necessitating preliminary negotiations with patent holders.
- A direct and informal cooperation should be considered between OAPI and WHO and/or UNAIDS to facilitate access to information on patents issued by OAPI and to ensure measured that in the long-term will lead to improved access to drugs in the Member States concerned.
[authors]
The paper is also available in French.
