India and Brazil today strongly denounced the Netherlands Customs authorities at the World Trade Organization for seizing several consignments of generic medicines from the two countries.
The two developing countries, supported by 17 other members, said the Dutch Customs authorities’ move was inconsistent with the trade body’s TRIPS (Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement). “It undermined the balance between public health concerns and protection and enforcement of IPRs,” they said.
The Dutch authorities claimed that the consignment of generic medicines from India and Brazil allegedly violated intellectual property rights.
“This seizure”, said India, was not only inconsistent with the TRIPS agreement but also went against the “spirit of a rule-based trading system”.
Besides, “such acts represent a distorted use of the international IP system and circumscribe TRIPS flexibilities”, India charged.
Seventeen WTO members supported India, saying that the Dutch Customs authorities were working towards stopping poor countries from accessing generic medicines from India.