EU blocking medicines for the poor

The European Union is intercepting big shipments of medicines on their way to poorer countries, according to a new report published Tuesday. The generic medicines, coming mostly from India and headed for Latin American countries, have been intercepted and blocked on the grounds of alleged infringement of intellectual property rights. A report produced jointly by Oxfam and the independent Health Action International says the generic shipments are legitimate under WTO rules. India and Brazil are due to file a complaint against the Netherlands before the World Trade Organization after it seized a shipment of anti-HIV drugs headed from India via Europe to Brazil, Colombia and Nigeria. Since late last year Germany and the Netherlands have made customs seizures of 19 shipments of generic medicines bound for developing countries, the report says. Of the last 17 shipments, 16 were from India and one from China.