India, Brazil file WTO complaints over generic drug seizures

After months of threatening action, India and Brazil have both filed official complaints with the World Trade Organization over the detention by EU customs of Indian-made generics en route to markets in Latin America.

The seizures - which came to the fore in 2008 and 2009 - centred on the invocation of EC Regulation 1383 which allows seizure by customs of products suspected of intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement.

Under current law, the generic medicine shipments should not have been detained because the patents on the drugs are not recognised in either the country of origin or destination.

The problem arose with the differing interpretation of Regulation 1383, with customs in the Netherlands, for example, taking the position that if such a shipment touched ground in the EU it was considered to be subject to standard customs procedures.

The European Commission launched an online public consultation to review its legislation on customs enforcement of intellectual property rights in March, and maintains that there have been no recent cases of inappropriate seizures by customs operating in the EU.

India and Brazil say they have filed a request for consultation with the EU and the Netherlands, which is the first step in the WTO's dispute resolution procedure. They claim the seizures have violated WTO rules, damaged legitimate trade in generic medicines and impeded access to essential drugs in developing countries.


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