India-EU deal: Advocacy group cautions against weakening of patent rules

PATIENT ADVOCACY GROUP Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatment has raised concerns over the latest India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) asking for the government to release the full text of the agreement for public scrutiny and place it before the Parliament for discussions prior to signing to enable debate on the FTA’s implications forthe pharmaceutical sector.

- MANU KAUSHIK

The group said that India could have agreed to controversial trade-related aspects of intellectual property (TRIPS)-plus measures as part of the deal which will hit the generics industry and impact the availability and affordability of medicines.