MSF: Open Letter to European Commissioner on EU India Free Trade Agreement and Its Impact on Access to Medicines

[Els Torreele] On behalf of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international medical humanitarian organisation that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in distress in more than 70 countries, I am writing to express our position on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between India and the European Union (EU). I understand that both parties have agreed to resume technical discussions concerning the FTA, including the chapter on intellectual property (IP) provisions. India has for many years played a pivotal role in providing a sustainable supply of quality assured generic medicines that are vitally important for public health systems around the world. It is critical that the EU-India FTA agreement remain free of TRIPS-plus measures and heavy-handed enforcement provisions that could jeopardize access to, and production of, affordable generic medicines.