ID :
49704
Mon, 03/09/2009 - 20:16
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http://m.oananews.org//node/49704
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Commerce official heads to US for trade talks
BANGKOK, March 9 (TNA) - Thailand’s Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot leaves late Monday on a nine-day official visit to talk with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in Washington on imposing compulsory licensing (CL) on expensive drugs and on finding ways to increase trade and investment between the two countries.
Mr. Alongkorn said the Abhisit government which came to power in December does not expect Washington to upgrade Thailand to Watch List (WL) status from its current Priority Watch List (PWL) status as the US also has a new administration.
Neither government has yet come to the full measure of reviewing the range of its responsibilities and commitments, Mr. Alongkorn said.
However he noted that Thailand has dramatically reduced the volume of pirated goods in Thailand which violated American and other intellectual property rights and the new government hopes that the US will upgrade Thailand to Watch List status and that the country will receive a more generalised system of preferences (GSP) listing status in 2010.
Under the GSP programme, more than 3,400 items of Thai goods with the total value of Bt130 billion gain from it.
Mr. Alongkorn said he would meet US public and private sector representatives during his visit and explain to them why Thailand had decided to continue imposing compulsory licensing (CL) on essential drugs which were too expensive for the average Thai patient to buy.
Imposed by the military-installed government of then prime minister Surayud Chulanont following the September 2006 coup against Thaksin Shinawatra, the CL policy allows the country to manufacture patented AIDS and cancer medicines for non-commercial use without the consent of the patent owners, making them more accessible for disease-stricken poor people. (TNA)
Mr. Alongkorn said the Abhisit government which came to power in December does not expect Washington to upgrade Thailand to Watch List (WL) status from its current Priority Watch List (PWL) status as the US also has a new administration.
Neither government has yet come to the full measure of reviewing the range of its responsibilities and commitments, Mr. Alongkorn said.
However he noted that Thailand has dramatically reduced the volume of pirated goods in Thailand which violated American and other intellectual property rights and the new government hopes that the US will upgrade Thailand to Watch List status and that the country will receive a more generalised system of preferences (GSP) listing status in 2010.
Under the GSP programme, more than 3,400 items of Thai goods with the total value of Bt130 billion gain from it.
Mr. Alongkorn said he would meet US public and private sector representatives during his visit and explain to them why Thailand had decided to continue imposing compulsory licensing (CL) on essential drugs which were too expensive for the average Thai patient to buy.
Imposed by the military-installed government of then prime minister Surayud Chulanont following the September 2006 coup against Thaksin Shinawatra, the CL policy allows the country to manufacture patented AIDS and cancer medicines for non-commercial use without the consent of the patent owners, making them more accessible for disease-stricken poor people. (TNA)
