Pharmaceutical firms seek delay of patent law
Pharmaceutical firms seek delay of patent law
JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers is seeking a deferment of the revised patent law until 2000, saying that their members are not ready to face the new patent restrictions now being considered by the government.
Association deputy chairman Gunawan Pranoto warned that without a five-year deferment, many producers would be forced to shut down and workers could lose their jobs.
During a hearing with Commission VIII of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Gunawan said the association is not opposed to a revision of the patent law but is asking for more time to adjust before the legislation is enforced.
The government is currently planning to revise the 1989 Patent Law, strengthening patent rights protections. Gunawan said the government hoped the new law would be enforced in 1997.
"We have no problem with a revision of the law. We will accept it. But we foresee difficulties in the transition period. The Indonesian pharmaceutical industry needs more time to strengthen itself before it can face up to foreign competition," Gunawan said.
If the government enforces the strengthened patent law in January 1997, many manufacturers will incur heavy losses because they cannot produce medicines patented by foreign producers, he said.
Gunawan explained that the Indonesian pharmaceutical industry is only at an intermediate level, and cannot produce some basic medicinal ingredients.
The local medicine market however offers strong growth potential.
Total sales in 1994 in were only US$900 million, compared to $1,400 million in Taiwan and $925 million in the Philippines.
Annual per capita consumption of medicine in Indonesia, at $5 a person, is the lowest in the region. It is $14 in the Philippines, $12 in Malaysia, $42 in Singapore and $13 in Thailand.
"The low level of per capita medicine consumption in Indonesia has to do with our low per capita income," he said.
He explained that local manufacturers still dominate the local market, with 64 percent, while foreign manufacturers control the other 36 percent.
The industry is run by 188 private local companies, 32 foreign joint ventures and four state-owned companies. (31)