NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, June 12, 2015

Charity Medecins Sans Frontieres appealed to India on Thursday not to give in to pressure from Europe, the United States and Japan to make it easier for big firms to get patents in the country, potentially blocking the production of cheap generics.

MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said changes proposed at negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement – of which India is a part – contain “damaging provisions, all of which go beyond India’s obligations under international trade rules”.

The RCEP is a proposed free trade deal between Southeast Asian nations and six others – Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.