India may help drug shipments bypass EU

India may reimburse additional freighting costs of pharmaceutical companies that elect to ship medicines via routes that bypass the European Union, according to an article in the Business Standard newspaper.

The move comes after a hefty increase in the number of medicine shipments seized at EU borders in transit form India to markets in Africa and Latin America on the grounds that they infringe intellectual property rights.

India has threatened to take the European Commission in front of the World Trade Organization, claiming that some of the seizures represent non-tariff barriers to trade.

Last week, a UK High Court ruled that UK custom authorities have no power to impound these shipments, even if they are proved to be counterfeit, if there is no intention to sell the medicines within the EU.


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