US-PERU TRADE NEGOTIATIONS: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON RIGHT TO HEALTH REMINDS PARTIES OF HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS

5 July 2004


The Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health issued the following statement today:

Following his recent Mission to Peru, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Paul Hunt, today urged the United States and Peru to take the right to health into account during their current trade negotiations.

"I am deeply concerned that the US-Peru trade agreement will water-down internationally agreed health safeguards, leading to higher prices for essential drugs that millions of Peruvians will find unaffordable," the Special Rapporteur explained.

The right of countries to protect public health is set out in the World Trade Organisation's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), and was reinforced by the historic Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. The Doha Declaration confirmed the right of countries to use safeguards, such as compulsory licences, to protect public health and promote access to medicines for all.

"The US-Peru trade agreement must not restrict Peru's ability to use the public health safeguards enshrined in TRIPS and the Doha Declaration", the Special Rapporteur remarked.

The Special Rapporteur observed that the Constitution of Peru protects the right to health. Also, Peru has ratified international human rights treaties that enshrine the right to health, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Crucially, the right to health encompasses access to affordable essential medicines, including for those living in poverty.

Over 50 per cent of Peruvians live in poverty, while almost 25 per cent live in extreme poverty. Already, many Peruvians die from treatable medical conditions. "The trade agreement must improve - not further impede - access to essential medicines, especially for those living in poverty", he said.

"On my recent mission to Peru, I was impressed by the Government's commitment to human rights, including the right to health”, the Special Rapporteur added. “Both the US and Peru must honour these binding obligations during their negotiations. If the final agreement has the effect of restricting access to essential drugs it will be inconsistent with Peru's national and international human rights obligations".

The US-Peru negotiations are part of a wider process, launched in May this year, which aims to achieve a US-Andean trade agreement between US and Peru, Ecuador and Colombia (and possibly Bolivia).

In recent weeks, other United Nations bodies have also insisted that human rights obligations have an important role to play in these negotiations. In June, for example, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights strongly recommended that Ecuador take its human rights obligations into account when negotiating the US-Ecuador trade agreement.

In a different context, the Committee on the Rights of the Child recently adopted a similar position when recommending that El Salvador "systematically consider the best interest of the child when negotiating trade-related intellectual property rights".

In relation to the current US-Peru trade negotiations, the Special Rapporteur concluded:

* all stages of the negotiations must be open, transparent and subject to public scrutiny;

* before any agreement is finalised, assessments must identify the likely impact of the draft agreement on the enjoyment of the right to health, including access to essential medicines, especially of those living in poverty;

* in accordance with its human rights responsibility of international cooperation, the US must not apply any pressure on Peru to enter into commitments that are either 'TRIPS-plus' or inconsistent with Peru's constitutional and international human rights obligations;

* Peru has a responsibility to ensure that the final agreement is consistent with its constitutional and international human rights obligations.

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The Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to help States and others promote and protect the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

For further information on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and copies of his reports, please consult the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (www.ohchr.org). His report on his Mission to the World Trade Organisation is document E/CN.4/2004/49/Add.1 of 1 March 2004. The Special Rapporteur was on Mission to Peru from 6 to 15 June 2004 and will issue a report of his mission in the autumn of 2004.