Norway implemented the General Council Decision of 30 August 2003 into Norwegian legislation the 14th of May 2004. The legislation entered into force 1. June 2004 and we were, with this decision, the first country that had a fully operational system in place. A detailed description of the system with a copy of the legislation attached is set out in IP/C/W/427. The adopted set of regulations aim at setting out as closely as possible the content of the General Council Decision of August 2003. A copy of the notification to the WTO can be found below.
26/07/2005 ::
The General Council adopted 30th of August 2003 a decision on TRIPS and Public Health. The decision waives countries’ obligations under article 31(f) of the WTO’s intellectual property agreement. Article 31(f) of the TRIPS Agreement says that production under compulsory licensing must be predominantly for the domestic market. This effectively limited the ability of countries that cannot make pharmaceutical products from importing cheaper generics from countries where pharmaceuticals are patented. The Decision from August 2003 is a result of the mandate given to us by our Ministries in Doha in 2001where it is a clear recognition of the public health problems afflicting many developing and least developed countries and the the difficulties many WTO members with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector could face in making effective use of compulsory lecensing under the TRIPS Agreement. More information, including copies, on Doha Decleration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health and the Waiver Decision from 30 August 2003 can be found on WTOs homepage www.wto.org.
Norway implemented the General Council Decision of 30 August 2003 into Norwegian legislation the 14th of May 2004. The legislation entered into force 1. June 2004 and we were, with this decision, the first country that had a fully operational system in place. A detailed description of the system with a copy of the legislation attached is set out in IP/C/W/427. The adopted set of regulations aim at setting out as closely as possible the content of the General Council Decision of August 2003. A copy of the notification to the WTO can be found below.
W427NORWAYSNOTIFICATION.doc