PHNOM PENH, Aug 25, 2009 (Xinhua) -- A senior Cambodian Commerce Ministry official said he hopes a draft law easing intellectual property restrictions on imports and exports of essential medicines will encourage major manufacturers of generic drugs to set up operations in Cambodia, local media reported on Wednesday.
The Law on Compulsory Licensing for Public Health will be submitted to the Council of Ministers "soon" and is expected to be passed by the National Assembly by the end of this year, Var Rath San, director of the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Intellectual Property Rights, which drafted the law, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.
The law would bring Cambodia into line with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations allowing developing countries to bypass patents when importing and exporting drugs used to treat serious diseases such as malaria and HIV.
"Hopefully, foreign investors and large foreign pharmaceutical firms that are not eligible to produce generic drugs at home will come to set up factories to produce generic drugs for local and overseas pharmaceutical markets," Var Rath San said.
The WTO's 1995 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) allows developing countries to issue a compulsory license to drug manufacturers, allowing them to produce a patented drug without the consent of the patent owner.
A "proper fee" must be paid to the patent holder, but the fee is determined by the government according to its ability to pay.
Ministry of Health Secretary of State Chou Yin Sim said the law will help expand the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector in Cambodia.
The Law on Compulsory Licensing for Public Health will be submitted to the Council of Ministers "soon" and is expected to be passed by the National Assembly by the end of this year, Var Rath San, director of the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Intellectual Property Rights, which drafted the law, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.
The law would bring Cambodia into line with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations allowing developing countries to bypass patents when importing and exporting drugs used to treat serious diseases such as malaria and HIV.
"Hopefully, foreign investors and large foreign pharmaceutical firms that are not eligible to produce generic drugs at home will come to set up factories to produce generic drugs for local and overseas pharmaceutical markets," Var Rath San said.
The WTO's 1995 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) allows developing countries to issue a compulsory license to drug manufacturers, allowing them to produce a patented drug without the consent of the patent owner.
A "proper fee" must be paid to the patent holder, but the fee is determined by the government according to its ability to pay.
Ministry of Health Secretary of State Chou Yin Sim said the law will help expand the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector in Cambodia.
2 comments:
Hi, I am a reader from Malaysia. Found this article very useful. Thank you!
I would like to know more about the IP system in Cambodia, for patent laws especially related to pharmaceuticals in Cambodia. Can you direct me to some links for further reading?
By the way, is there any exemption for Cambodia for implementing pharmaceutical patent for the time being, as the country is still developing?
Property law falls into the common law legal system and concerns all aspects of ownership of 'real' property (land ownership as opposed to ownership of movable possessions) and personal property (movable possessions). The concept of property law has been around since the days of ancient Rome and the emperor Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis, which was concerned with dividing civil law into three categories: personal status, property and acquisition of property. The concept of property law as we know it today first evolved out of France's feudal system and was the first successful implementation of such a law, called the Napoleonic Code, based on Justinian's ideals. Get more ideas about this by clicking on the link Only Conveyancing.
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