—the extension of patent terms beyond what already exists, which will apply in both Canadian and other TPP member states; the locking in of our linkage regulations that tie marketing approval of generics to claims of patent infringement by brand-name companies; and provision that the Supreme Court of Canada has already declared to be draconian would be locked in by the TPP, locking in data and market exclusivity provisions, and so on. Those will all have a negative impact on Canadians' access to medicines and also those of people in developing countries.
You've already heard about the regulatory chill that will be created by the investment chapter, the provisions of which now explicitly for the first time apply to IP provisions. Canada should take particular note of the fact that Canada is the subject of the first investor-state dispute settlement provision by a pharmaceutical company under NAFTA. We are now taking those provisions and globalizing them further through the TPP.
Instead of going down this route, we could take a number of positive approaches. I'll wrap up with a couple of suggestions.
The High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines that the UN Secretary-General has struck is looking at how to come up with better policy approaches for both more innovation and better access, rather than the skewed innovation and limited access we have now. We could instead be active participants in negotiating a global health R and D treaty that would address public health needs of the world, and we could instead be negotiating treaties that guarantee policy space for countries to protect public health, as we said 15 years ago we were hoping to do.
Thank you.