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Wednesday November 14, 2012 |
The Canadian Press reports
that Canada is ready to cave to European demands for changes to patent
rules that could cost Canadians hundreds of millions of dollars in
higher health care costs. The ministerial meeting on the remaining CETA
issues is set for next week.
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Thursday November 01, 2012 |
Reports this morning from EDRI, a European digital rights group, indicate that Europe
has now dropped demands to include ACTA-style intellectual property
criminal provisions within the Canada - EU Trade Agreement. The
inclusion of IP criminal provisions in CETA was the source of
considerable outrage in Europe in the aftermath of the European
Parliament's rejection of ACTA in early July. EDRI reports
that the European Council obtained support over the summer from
member states to drop demands for the criminal provisions, fearing
those provisions could lead to a European rejection of the treaty
(the Dutch government has already indicated it will not support CETA
if it includes ACTA provisions).
The removal of ACTA's criminal provisions leave only two
copyright-related question marks in CETA. First, the ACTA border
measures provisions have yet to be determined as they are being
discussed within the context of protection for geographical
indications. Second, Canada is still seeking the inclusion of
criminal anti-camcording rules. Canada adopted those rules in 2007
under significant pressure from the United States. Europe resisted
their inclusion within ACTA, resulting in a provision that is
optional rather than mandatory. While Canada is seeking a mandatory
rule, it seems likely this is a (very weak) bargaining chip, rather
than a serious attempt to require criminal anti-camcording measures.
Canada may drop the demand during negotiations later this month over
pharmaceutical patent reform. Regardless, the European Parliament's
rejection of ACTA has clearly had a significant impact on CETA as
the Internet and criminal provisions are now both apparently gone in
the face of widespread European opposition.
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Wednesday October 31, 2012 |
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EU Commissioner Karel de Gucht says
that there should be "no illusions" about the remaining difficult
issues in the Canada - EU Trade Agreement, suggesting that
completion by the end of the year remains uncertain. De Gucht
indicated that CETA once included ACTA language, but says that has
now been removed.
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Thursday October 18, 2012 |
The Canada - EU Trade Agreement has been the subject of conflicting
reports on the inclusion of ACTA provisions, but there has
been no doubt about the ongoing dispute over the agreement's patent
rules. Given the EU demands for significant patent reforms, the
issue has been set aside with the ministers expected to address it
when they meet in November.
For months, big pharmaceutical companies (known as Rx&D) and
civil society/the generic pharmaceutical industry have been battling
over the issue. Each has released public opinion surveys that
purport to demonstrate support for their position (Rx&D,
civil society).
More important has been a study
that concluded that the proposed reforms could add billions to
annual Canadian health care costs along with reports
that show that the large pharmaceutical companies failed to meet
research and development commitments the last time the Canadian
government acquiesced to patent reform demands.
While Rx&D sought to downplay those studies (as did the
government, which described these concerns as a myth), it now faces
an internal
government study conducted by Industry Canada and Health
Canada that placed the costs of CETA patent reform as high as $2
billion per year. The $2 billion cost would significantly decrease
the government's claims of likely economic gains from CETA and
heighten provincial opposition, since the costs will be offloaded to
provincial health care budgets.
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