The international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has expressed concern over the inclusion of intellectual property (IP) in the ongoing negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), as it will roll back public health safeguards enshrined in international and Indian patent laws.

RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the 10 member-states of ASEAN and the six states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs – Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand.   RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia. Till now there have been five rounds of negotiations. At the third round of negotiations, the Intellectual Property Working Group (IPWG) was established.  In June 2014, Japan submitted an 'Elements paper' to the IPWG of the RCEP which includes a draft text on IP.

“Japan’s negotiating text on IP is ‘TRIPS Plus’ and if accepted will roll back public health safeguards enshrined in international and Indian patent law. It will put in place far-reaching monopoly protections that restrict generic competition and keep medicine prices unaffordable for millions of patients”, the MSF in a letter to the union minister of state for commerce & industry, Nirmala Sitharaman, said.

The freedom for Indian manufacturers to operate and produce affordable versions of new essential medicines is already severely curtailed.  Stringent IP rules introduced under the RCEP would further undermine the ability of Indian generics companies to make, register and supply affordable versions of medicines required by treatment providers like MSF and health ministries, MSF in its letter to the minister said.

India should reject all draft IP proposals that harm access to medicines and ensure that the final text is aligned with relevant global public health commitments, particularly the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. Additionally, draft negotiating texts should be released at appropriate intervals for public review and input. Transparency can ensure that all viewpoints from concerned stakeholders are taken into account.

The Indian negotiating position in FTAs has been committed to systematically opposing attempts to impose greater restrictions on generic medicines production than required under international trade rules. This was first clearly reflected during the course of recent negotiations on the IP text in the India-Japan CEPA and in the EU-India FTA, with Indian negotiators standing firm against some of the most problematic IP provisions, such as data exclusivity and patent term extensions, the MSF acknowledged in its letter.

“As negotiations on RCEP gain momentum in the coming year, we urge you to maintain your vigilance and commitment to monitor ‘very closely’ the continuing negotiations in the IPWG of the RCEP, to make sure the terms of any trade agreement reached ‘do not impede free trade in generic medicines’ that we and so many in the developing world rely upon”, the MSF said.