[Congressional Record: April 27, 1999 (Extensions)]
[Page E782-E783]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr27ap99-39]


 COMPULSORY LICENSING IS NOT AN ASSAULT ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

                                 ______


                           HON. MARION BERRY

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 27, 1999

  Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, I am thankful that today, by an overwhelming
majority of 422 to 1, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1554,
the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1999, which I supported. This
legislation ensures that many of my constituents will continue to
receive television network programing. The bill extends for five years
compulsory licenses, which require superstations and distant broadcast
stations to allow their signal to be retransmitted by satellite
carriers. In order to promote competition, the bill sets specific
prices at which the intellectual property owners, or broadcasters, will
be paid for having their signal rebroadcasted.
  It is ironic that even as we vote to allow compulsory licensing
today, we are interfering in another country's attempt to address a
public health crisis through giving consumers access to international
markets and through the use of compulsory licensing. It is estimated
3.2 million South Africans are HIV positive, including 45 percent of
its military. One in five South African pregnant women test positive
for HIV. Access to affordable medicine is also a critical issue for the
elderly and others suffering from chronic diseases and medical
conditions. Prescription drugs are not currently an option for many
patients in South Africa, where the drugs often cost more than they do
in the United States. The 1997 per capita income in South Africa was
estimated to be only $6,200 annually.
  To address the problem, President Mandela and the South African
Government enacted a law in 1997 to reform the country's prescription
drug marketplace. The law amends the South African Medicines Act to
allow prescription drugs to be purchased in the international
marketplace where prices are lower. It would also allow compulsory
licensing in some cases. Regulations implementing the law have not been
implemented while the law is being constitutionally challenged in South
African courts by drug makers in their country.
  However, the pharmaceutical industry has persuaded the United States
government to work to have the South African law repealed. In February,
the United States Department of State released a report titled, U.S.
Government Efforts to Negotiate the Repeal, Termination or Withdrawal
of Article 15(c) of the South African Medicines and Related Substances
Act of 1965.
  While special interest groups have tried to convince members of
Congress and the administration that implementation of the South
African Medicines Act would cause violations of international
intellectual property rights agreements, I have seen no evidence that
such violations are likely to occur. Compulsory licensing is not an
assault on intellectual property rights. Instead, it is part of the
copyright and patent systems which enable the interest of the public to
be served. Compulsory licensing is permitted under Article 31 of the
WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS). In fact, French law authorizes compulsory licensing when
medicines are ``only available to the public in insufficient quantity
or quality or at abnormally high prices.''
  Today, the House of Representatives wisely exercised its power to
continue the use of compulsory licensing in the broadcast industry to
allow consumers to have access to broadcast signals, that in many
instances they would otherwise be unable to receive. Certainly, the
United States government should recognize the need of a government to
allow

[[Page E783]]

its citizens to have access to needed medicine in order to address a
public health crisis and should not interfere with the situation in
South Africa.

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