A 20-member forum of European economic attaches in Israel met at the European Union offices in Israel today to discuss Israel's proposals for protecting pharmaceutical data exclusivity. Sources inform “Globes” that the forum's position is that, "The EU is very dissatisfied with Israel's decision about the protection of pharmaceutical information exclusivity."
The source added, "If Israel want to join EU cooperation agreements and bilateral treaties, or join the European Economic Area and the OECD, it must accept European rules on protecting intellectual property."
Danish Embassy in Tel Aviv commercial counsellor Daniel Shemi told "Globes", "The EU economic attaches working on this matter coordinate with the US Trade Representative (USTR), because we don’t view this matter as a dispute between Israel and the US, but as a dispute with the Western world. European pharmaceutical companies account for the lion's share of Israel's drug imports. That is why Israel should take Europe's position into account."
The dispute over pharmaceutical data exclusivity is heating up in advance of a visit by US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick on Friday. The Israeli government decided to grant only a five-year pharmaceutical marketing exclusivity, which, unlike information exclusivity, would permit access to ethical drug registration files for the purpose of producing generic drugs in Israel for export.
The EU grants an eight-year pharmaceutical data exclusivity, plus an extra two years marketing exclusivity, with the possibility of an extra year in cases of new ethical drugs.
The Manufacturers Association of Israel said today, "The government should reject out of hand the demands of the international pharmaceutical companies regarding the absence of proper intellectual property protection in Israel, since they are an attempt to impose standards that exceed those in other Western countries."
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on October 14, 2004