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Nayanar demands NDC meeting to discuss patent laws

Kerala Chief Minister E K Nayanar today urged Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to convene a meeting of the National Development Council next month to discuss the proposed legislation, seeking to grant exclusive marketing rights for pharmaceutical and agro-chemical products on the basis of the patents registered abroad.

In a letter to Vajpayee, he demanded that the council must hold a detailed discussion on the issue, before the legislation was introduced in Parliament.

He said even if the country had to give patent rights as per the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights agreement, it would have enough time till the year 2005, to hold discussions with other like-minded countries on taking up a campaign against those provisions which would adversely affect the country's interests.

The proposed legislation would adversely affect the states as well as the Centre. He said that the proposed legislation had negative implications for the pharmaceuticals and agro-chemical sectors.

On the sui generis system for protection of plant varieties, he said the country should ensure that the privileges enjoyed by the Indian farmers were not affected.

He said the proposed legislation should exempt farmers from the application of the plant breeders right system and provide for licensing of right system to ensure that agricultural universities had a major role in supplementing the availability of new seeds.

Nayanar said he was opposed to any IPR system for life forms, including seeds. The framework of the legislation on this subject should be circulated to the states before any bill was introduced in Parliament, he said.

He said that the move to grant marketing rights and mail box facility needed careful consideration and urged Vajpayee to consult the states since agriculture and public health are state subjects.

UNI

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