The member countries of the SAARC like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have pledged their active support to India in its ongoing arguments with the WTO regarding the TRIPS agreement.According to these countries, there is still lot of scope for changes in the recent amendment of the TRIPS resolution. These countries were of the same opinion that ultimately, there has to be a balanced view of the fact that public health cannot be neglected at the expense of respecting the patent on the product.

"Sri Lanka is going to follow the balanced way of approach, where the right to patent will be given due regards at the same time public health in the country will not be compromised upon. More or less, the health situation in Sri Lanka being similar to India, we will be supporting India in its endeavor towards finding a balanced resolution of the TRIPs agreement," said Dr. Harsha Cabral, member, National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka.

According to Dr. Mirza Zafarullah, Executive Director, The Network for Consumer Protection, Pakistan, there is scope for more flexibility in the TRIPs guidelines. They were speaking at the FICCI and SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized seminar on "WTO Agreement on TRIPs and Public Health" in Mumbai.

Manoj Joshi, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, said more clarification was needed on compulsory license issuing, remuneration granted for the original patent holder in case of a CLR, parallel imports, price control against patented products etc.

D.G. Shah, Secretary General, IPA, said the MNC''s would have to settle for a royalty income during compulsory licensing. "The MNC should negotiate with the WHO, which is the procuring agent and the global fund agents for an exact figure of royalty," he said. In the meanwhile, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is trying its hand at something else.

It has been successful in getting about 60 countries sign its Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT), said noted patent advocate of the country Narendra Zaveri. The WIPO members intend to achieve whatever missed from the subsequent meetings following TRIPs Council meet held at Doha from this treaty. "The interesting aspect of the story is that WIPO is under active negotiations with many African countries in signing the treaty," he said.

"SPLT aims to achieve whatever could not be defined during the TRIPs and we should make it sure that no country in the world takes a hasty decision into the matter," said D.G. Shah, Secretary General, IPA.

According to Shah, IPA is a member organization of the International Generic Pharmaceutical Alliance, which is having generic manufacturers across the world as its members. "IGPA is vigorously protesting against the moves put forth by WIPO through SPLT," said Shah. The member countries of the SAARC or any developing country can lobby IGPA by supporting IPA, the association of Indian companies within IGPA or by themselves joining IGPA, he said.