No trade pact outside WTO ambit: India

Indian patent laws conform to TRIPS

“We will not accept any TRIPS decision that is taken outside WTO framework,” Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said speaking at an event marking the World Intellectual Property Day.

He made this declaration while expressing concern over the growing efforts of certain developed countries to enact Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement (ACTA), which contains some provisions relating to enforcement of Intellectual Properties (IP) but are not within the WTO framework.

“We believe that certain provisions in this proposed agreement violate basic principle of TRIPS. We are firmly against such move which fall outside multi-lateral framework of WTO” Sharma said.

Asserting that Indian Patent Laws are fully in harmony with the TRIPS Agreement he said “legislative regime in India which circumscribes the IP rights is a robust one and strikes a balance between the interests of the IP creators and the larger interests of the IP users.” Sharma said India was instrumental in effecting a major breakthrough at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) when European Union countries agreed to a persistent demand by India for commencing negotiations for creation of international legal instruments for protection of India’s generic resources, traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions.

This has been a result of “tireless” efforts of almost a decade by Indian negotiators, he said.

In response to a query over slow progress on Doha Round of trade talks under the aegis of the WTO Sharma said that India would strive to achieve a “middle ground” to push forward trade negotiations.

Just a few days back WTO Director General Pascal Lamy expressed concern over the “tardy” pace of progress in WTO trade talks. Developed countries are pressing developing countries including India Brazil and China to drastically bring down tariff on wide range of industrial goods. Rich and developed countries are also asking developing countries to give more market access for goods including farm products.

Reiterating India’s commitment to achieve rule-based multilateral trade agreement Sharma said while pursuing this goal India would keep the sovereign national interests like legitimate concerns of agro and industry in mind.

“Our approach will be go for a middle ground that harmonizes the legitimate interests of developed and developing countries,” he said.

Later the Minister felicitated firms, educational institutions and individuals for their outstanding achievements for development of intellectual property in India.