MSF has repeatedly called for the removal of any border measures that allow trademark enforcement on goods in transit given previous seizures of generic medicines.

MSF and other organizations have repeatedly called for the removal of any border measures that allow trademark enforcement on goods in transit, given previous seizures of generic medicines within the European Union that were intended to provide life-saving treatment in developing countries, it said.
Any seizure of legitimate low-cost generic medicines could introduce a substantial new barrier to low-cost generic competition that undermine producers and purchasers of low-cost generic medicines, and more broadly have a negative impact on treatment programs in developing countries.
"By introducing a new right to stop and seize goods in transit through the European Union on just the suspicion of counterfeit (wilful) trademark infringement, the EU is about to take another unacceptable step beyond internationally-agreed trade rules to the detriment of affordable access to medicines in low- and middle-income countries," the MSF said.
The EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has been in negotiations since 2007. From the outset, the European Commission has pushed to include provisions that would undermine India's ability to produce affordable medicines on which millions of people in developing countries rely.
Source-IANS