[Commons-Law] Please endorse: Joint statement against KORUS FTA

[Sunil Abraham]

-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: PatchA <i at patcha.jinbo.net>
Reply-To: participants at asia-commons.net
To: participants at asia-commons.net
Subject: [participants] Please endorse: Joint statement against KORUS
FTA
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 23:55:56 +0900

Dear all,

Below is joint statement for the public health and access to
medicine, and against KORUS FTA including IPR negotiation.
We are now organizing endorsements from civil society
organizations. Please check below and if you want to endorse it,
please let me know your name and organization's name.
The Deadline is June 21st.


Thanks and Best,
Kim Jeong-woo (PatchA)

Korean Progressive Network 'Jinbonet'
Email) i at patcha.jinbo.net
Website) www.jinbo.net | nofta-ip.jinbo.net

- ---------------------------------------------------------------
Joint Statement against KORUS FTA

We say NO to FTA, which threatens the people¹s health right

June **, 2006


People¹s health is under threat.

Neoliberal globalization is the keyword explaining the current global
political and economic system. Its policies and orders, implemented through
multinational as well as bilateral or regional trade agreements, deteriorate
public interest and deprive the people of their rights to access to public
service in the name of ³free trade². FTA aims to promote privatization and
commercialization of essential services such as health care, education,
culture, electricity, and water and every aspects of life. As a result, it
restricts access to medicine and threatens food security and safe
environment. The proposed KORUS FTA contains provisions that put profit of
transnational corporations (TNCs) ahead of people¹s health right. These are
the reasons why we say No to KORUS FTA.

1. FTA facilitates privatization and commercialization of public services
including healthcare system

We believe that everyone has the right to health service such as prevention,
treatment and rehabilitation based on one¹s needs. Commercialization of
health service and privatization of public health facilities restrict
people¹s access to proper health care. Approving profit hospitals and
private health insurance system undermines the national healthcare system
which has been mandatory in Korea.

We oppose the KORUS FTA as it undermines the healthcare system as public
goods.


2. TRIPS plus provisions seriously restrict people¹s access to medicine

Every nation is responsible to ensure its people to access medicine at
affordable price. FTAs seriously block people¹s access to medicine by
forcing various measures to strengthen patent and intellectual property
protections on medicine. For instance, linkage between patent and drug
approval, patent term extension for examination delay, exclusive right on
drug approval data, expanding patentable subject matter, limiting the
circumstances under which compulsory license may be issued, and prohibiting
parallel import would restrict the entry of generic competitors and
undermine the ability to access to medicine at affordable price.

We are also concerned of other measures such as A-7 average price for
innovative drug used to raise the drug price and serve to benefit patent
owners.

We demand that any measures that restrict compulsory licensing and parallel
import against the spirit of Doha Declaration on TRIPS Agreement and Public
Health should be stopped.


3. FTA threatens the safety of food and water

We believe that water is a common resource that everyone has the right to
get access. Also, safety should be the priority concern in food trading.
We worry that the decision to restart import of beef infected of mad cow
disease is made by Korean government simply because beef was considered as a
barrier to FTA talk. It should have been based on medical and epidemiologic
evidence provided by independent party. The SPS & TBT should not be used as
measures to promote export against people¹s health. Thus we oppose KORUS
FTA that privatize water; reach agreements on SPS & TBT that threatens
health; and decide import of beef on political basis.


4. The investor-to-government claim system can infringe on government¹s duty
and right to protect public goods.

We have witnessed many cases that investor-to-government claim system
seriously infringes on people¹s right to health, safe environment, and
public security system. Under NAFTA, Ethyl and UPS claims against
government showed that public health policy could be ruined for the profit
of corporations. We also know the case that the attempt of New Brunswick
state government to introduce a policy to improve public health system was
set back by an investor¹s claim.

Therefore we oppose the KORUS FTA that contains provisions of
investor-to-government claim system.

Any international agreement, bilateral and regional trade agreements should
not contain provisions that adversely affect people¹s health status. We
conclude that KORUS FTA would infringe on people¹s health right. Also we
conclude that it will be a barrier to the global movement to enforce
people¹s health right. Thus we support the movement opposing KORUS FTA and
we ask individuals and organizations all over the world to join our action.

June ***, 2006


- -- 
Sunil Abraham, sunil at mahiti.org http://www.mahiti.org
"Vijay Kiran" IInd Floor, 314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur 
Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA
Ph/Fax: +91 80 51150580. Mob: (91) 9342201521
UK: (44) 02000000259