With trade and intellectual property rights featuring prominently in the agenda for US President Barack Obama's India visit, community and civil society groups have expressed concern that talks on these issues "are rigged against affordable access to medicines for patients in India and around the world".
"This comes against the backdrop of ever increasing pressure from the US to dilute India's intellectual property (IP) system and thwart generic competition under the garb of promoting investment and economic growth in India," a group of lawyers and activists said in a statement.
Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's return from the US in September 2014, "several developments indicate that the US is accelerating its efforts to weaken India's pro-poor patent laws. Within days, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) launched an Out of Cycle Review of India's IP regime which selectively targets areas of concern for US businesses", the statement from Lawyers Collective, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Delhi Network of Positive People and National Working Group on Patent Laws said.
Bilateral mechanisms have been set up through the US-India Trade Policy Forum and a series of meetings have been scheduled for the rest of this year "which will only serve to sustain US pressure on IP-related issues", the statement said.
"The institutionalization of bilateral engagement on IP-related issues provides the US government a platform to push the commercial interests of its corporations", cautioned Amit Sengupta, convenor of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan.
In an "additional attempt" to "intensify pressure" on the Indian government, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) "launched an investigation on India. A second investigation was announced in October 2014, even before the report of the first investigation was released", the statement said.
The report, published in December 2014, "one-sidedly reflects the US corporations' stand which attacks the use of public health safeguards such as Section 3(d) and compulsory licensing by India", the statement said.
"Public health safeguards under the Indian law are the key to preserving the lifeline for millions of people living with HIV who are dependent on cheap generic drugs from India. More than 80 percent of anti-retrovirals used in developing countries are supplied by India. If the US succeeds with its bullying tactics, lives will be lost," Loon Gangte of the Delhi Network of Positive People (DNP+) remarked.
"The result of the US pressure is obvious. The draft national IP policy released by the government's newly-constituted IP think tank is glaringly ignorant and promotes IP as the only solution for innovation and creativity in India, contrary to any evidence," said senior Supreme Court counsel Anand Grover of Lawyers Collective.
"The policy document is completely out of sync with India's ground realities and her developmental needs," he added.
Dinesh Abrol, convenor of the National Working Group on Patent Laws, said: "US demands have been crafted with the intention of imposing stronger IP norms on India, in line with the unceasing and false propaganda of US MNCs. In the Indian context, the promises of the TRIPS Agreement signed 20 years ago have not borne fruit. The government must not only reject the US demands but act proactively to address the current public health challenges."
In response to the ratcheting up of US pressures, 40 civil society organisations, patient groups and community networks have raised a global petition rejecting US actions that could jeopardise India's position as the pharmacy of the developing world, the statement said, adding: "The petition has been supported by over 75,000 individuals who will be directly affected by changes in India's IP policies."
