U.S. PhRMA Welcomes Russian WTO Accession

Russia’s accession agreement will cause its import duties to fall across the board, and importers of pharmaceuticals will no longer need import licences.

The president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has welcomed the imminent approval of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organisation in December, as strengthening intellectual property protection for medicine manufacturers selling in Russia.

John Castellani noted that under Moscow’s commitments to join the WTO – which is expected to be sanctioned by a ministerial meeting in Geneva on 15-17 December – there will be six years’ protection of proprietary data. He said this was ‘a provision critical to both to the ability of Russian patients to gain access to new and innovative medicines and our industry’s ability to protect its IP’.

Castellani added: ‘Unfortunately, to date, Russia’s intellectual property protection has been lack