WRITTEN QUESTION E-3250/02 by Margrietus van den Berg (PSE) to the Commission. Commission proposal for access to medicines for developing countries.
Date: 2002-11-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: TRIPS, aid policy, developing countries, discriminatory price, health aid, medicinal product, patents licence, pharmaceutical industry, right to health

C 11 E/44

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

15.1.2004

(2004/C 11 E/044)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3250/02

by Margrietus van den Berg (PSE) to the Commission

(19 November 2002)

Subject: Commission proposal for access to medicines for developing countries

The Commission’s press release of 30 October, ‘Commission clears plan to boost access to medicines for
developing countries’, announces a ‘Council regulation enabling exporters to deliver essential medicines
(…) while making sure the goods are not diverted back to the European Union’ and states: ‘However, in
practice it’s clear that if poorer countries get the medicines they need under tiered pricing arrangement,
they won’t need to use compulsory licences’.

This would be a serious development. There are a number of major problems with tiered pricing, notably
the fact that this instrument ultimately depends on voluntary action by the pharmaceuticals industry.

I hope I am right in assuming that the Commission does not intend to propose tiered pricing as a
substitute for the instruments within the TRIPS Agreement which were defended with great difficulty in
the ‘Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and public health’ and which can make medicines cheaper?

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(17 December 2002)

A country which has access to affordable medicines is not likely to issue a compulsory license. In doing so
the patent holder will withdraw his products from the markets as the right holder is not going to compete
with his own products. That is the case in developed country markets as well as in developing country
markets.

Tiered priced products may not always be available at affordable prices for developing countries and,
consequently, markets in those countries may remain under-supplied. Under certain conditions local
production might be cheaper. Hence there could be a need to issue a compulsory license for that purpose
or for the purpose of importing if the country issuing the compulsory license lacks sufficient production
capacity to produce domestically.

The Commission is therefore not proposing tiered pricing as a substitute for the instrument regarding
compulsory licenses presently under negotiation at the trade related intellectual property rights Council.
However, given the Commission’s commitment to alleviate the plight of countries presently suffering from
human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), malaria, tuberculosis
and other diseases, tiered pricing should be encouraged. To improve access to medicines in developing
country markets, discounted prices as well as other tools, including compulsory licensing, are means to
achieve this objective.

(2004/C 11 E/045)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3264/02

by Terence Wynn (PSE) to the Commission

(19 November 2002)

Subject: Customs authorities

Do Customs authorities at Palma Airport, Majorca, Spain have the right to confiscate cigarettes from
outbound travellers on cigarettes that have been duty paid?