E-DRUG: FTAA - Health Care and IP

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

E-DRUG: FTAA - Health Care and IP
---------------------------------
E-druggers:

The FTAA stands for the Free Trade Area for the Americas.  It is a
proposed trade agreement for 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere. 
The FTAA, like NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agency?) and the GATT
(General Agreement for Trade and Tariff), has many important non-tariff
provisions, including those dealing with intellectual property (IP). 

The FTAA organizers have created an official role for the private sector
role in the negotiations, called the Business Forum.  It is supposed to
be open to anyone.  I attended the 1997 session in Belo Horizonte,
Brazil, and was permitted to participate in discussions.  However, the
attendees were nearly all from a handful of large firms.  By February
15, 1998, groups can submit position papers to the FTAA Business Forum
working groups, and register to attend the meetings in March 16-18,
1998, in Costa Rica.  You can submit position papers, even if you don't
attend, or endorse position papers submitted by others.  These seem to
be rather brief, bottom line documents, which state positions, almost
like talking points. 

CPT's draft 1998 comments to the FTAA IP working group are on the web
at: http://www.cptech.org/ip/draftipwg98.html (no period).  The first
section of our comments concern health care and intellectual property. 
We would very much appreciate endorsements of some or all of the health
care recommendations from NGOs, firms, governments or any other groups
(I do not believe individuals can present or endorse position papers).

Groups can also submit their own comments via electronic  mail.  Contact
info is available from the note at:
http://www.cptech.org/ip/draftipwg98.html (no period). 

Please contact me if you are interested in this.  

James Love
Consumer Project on Technology
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
Email:love@cptech.org | http://www.cptech.org
voice 202.387.8030, fax 202.234.5176

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