Under Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)' there was no access to medicines for underdeveloped countries for treating serious health issues. This was due to lack of manufacturing capacities of such countries in producing medicines for various uncontrolled diseases. Hence, to make an easy access to medicines for serious diseases, DOHA declaration was adopted by World Trade Organization for the underdeveloped countries which was restricted under TRIPS.
Paragraph 6 of the DOHA declaration:
Paragraph 6 of DOHA declaration submitted by developing countries and which came out as a solution for TRIPS restrictive policies under which export was added as the patenting right in TRIPS agreements.
Key points of Paragraph 6 states:
- Permits the manufacturing and export of patented medicines by third parties to countries lacking the capacity to manufacture such products.
- No decision was taken on this proposal, as it was postponed under paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on Public Health.1
In the Paragraph 6 Solution, the General Council has waived the obligations set out in paragraphs (f) and (h) of Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement with respect to pharmaceutical products, prescribing specific conditions for exporting and importing countries. The exporting country can export such drugs only when it has made a notification to the Council for TRIPS:
- specifying the names and expected quantities of the product(s) needed
- Confirming that the importing Member does not have the manufacturing capacity or has insufficient manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector for the product(s), and;
- Confirming that a compulsory licence has been issued in its territory under Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement.2
Conclusion
Though paragraph 6 of the DOHA declaration was a solution to a restrictive TRIPS agreement of trade of medicines, it was not able to resolve the problem of easy access to affordable medicines due to lack of resources and infrastructure. Also, public health protections under TRIPS must be recognized for public health and taking forward the trade of medicines within developed and underdeveloped countries to an ease.
Footnotes
1. http://ijlt.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Daya-Shankar.pdf
2. Ibid.
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