Intellectual Property Rights, the World Trade Organization and Public Health: The Brazilian Perspective
![handle is hein.journals/conjil17 and id is 321 raw text is: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, THE WORLD
TRADE ORGANIZATION AND PUBLIC HEALTH:
THE BRAZILIAN PERSPECTIVE
Jos, Marcos Nogueira Viana
From November 9 to 14, 2001, the World Trade Organization (WTO) met at
the Persian Gulf capital of Qatar. The core objective of the Ministerial Conference
(the Conference) was to start a new round of economic negotiations aimed at
increasing world trade flows. In previous years, only specialized international trade
negotiators attended the Conference. However, this year, the Brazilian Health
Minister also attended the Conference. His presence at the Conference marked the
first time that a health minister from a developing country had attended.
The Brazilian government has consistently supported the idea that public health
should not be subordinate to abuses of economic power. At the Geneva meeting of
the World Health Organization (WHO), at the Special U.N. General Assembly
session on AIDS held in New York in June 2000, and in bilateral meetings with
other developed and developing nations, the Brazilian government has argued that
democratic governments must ensure access to needed medicines. Additionally, it
has pointed out the importance of protecting consumers from price abuses resulting
from lack of competition. Finally, it has argued that in cases of public interest and
national emergencies, pharmaceutical patents should not be allowed to cripple
government efforts to protect public health.
Initially, the Brazilian government was sharply criticized by developed
countries, which viewed Brazil's policy towards combating AIDS as a threat to the
profit margins of research-based pharmaceutical companies. On February 1, 2000,
the U.S. government petitioned the opening of a panel against the Brazilian
government at the WTO for alleged noncompliance with the Agreement on Trade-
Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement).' The U.S.
* Josd Marcos Nogueira Viana is a carrear diplomat. He is the First Secretary of the Brazilian
Ministry of External Relations. First Secretary Viana holds degrees in public administration and
journalism and has served as a Brazilian diplomat in Libya, Surinam, and Austria. He was also a
Ministry of Health delegate to the November 2001 World Trade Organization (WTO) discussions in
Doha, Qatar, regarding licensing and patent issues surrounding HIV medicines and the right of third
world countries to circumvent copyrights and patents in producing such medicines. In addition, he has
been an active member of the International Chamber of Tobacco Issues under the World Health
Organization (WHO), of the Bioethics Commission for reviewing international rules, and has also
participated as part of the Brazilian delegations in WTO discussions regarding the Agreement on Trade-
Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). He is now special adviser to the
secretary of government communication to the presidency of the republic of Brazil member of the
special session of the United Nations regarding HIV/AIDS.
I. Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Dec. 15, 1993, 33 I.L.M.
81 [hereinafter TRIPS Agreement].](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/conjil17&div=28&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Intellectual Property Rights, the World Trade Organization and Public Health: The Brazilian Perspective
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