Members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Tuesday confirmed their support for a provisional 2003 accord that allowed poor countries to import generic drugs to treat infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS, the WTO said.
The 2003 agreement gave poor countries affected by the diseases a temporary exemption from international laws protecting intellectual property rights and enabled them to buy generic drugs from pharmaceutical companies in countries such as Brazil and India.
The general council of the WTO, convening on Tuesday, agreed to make the measure permanent following concerns from developing countries, notably African states, that the mechanism might be revoked.
The measure is to enter into force by December 1, 2007 at the latest following a final ratification by two-thirds of the WTO membership, the WTO said in its statement.
The accord, reached after years of wrangling, sought to balance protection of the intellectual property rights of drug companies with the desire of developing countries to buy cheaper, generic drugs.
Western countries insisted that their drug companies be protected from the re-export of generic medicines.
Under wording in the original agreement, which was repeated on Tuesday, all parties agreed to act "in good faith" and to make use of the mechanism for public health rather than commerical purposes.
Generic drugs are identical copies of branded drugs but are sold at a lower price. Branded drugs benefit from copyright protection for a specified length of time.