investment, Government procurement, intellectual property, labour, and
dispute settlement.
CHAPTER 1
Based on a memorandum received by the Commission on 1 December
2015 from several Members of Parliament (MPs) and a former senator on
the impact of the TPPA on human rights in Malaysia, the Policy Division, on
15 January, organised the Round-Table Discussion (RTD) on the TPPA and
Its Impact on Human Rights in Malaysia, focusing on selected chapters,
namely intellectual property rights, labour, and dispute settlement, which
may have an impact on human rights in Malaysia.
Among the panellists of the RTD on the TPPA. From left, Mr. Kesavan a/l Karuppiah (Ministry of
Human Resources) and Datuk J. Jayasiri (Ministry of International Trade and Industry)
The following issues were raised during the RTD by the participants:
i)
Data Exclusivity
Concerns were raised by the participants that data exclusivity would have
impact on the cost of medicine. Public healthcare in Malaysia is highly
subsidised by the Government, and hence any increase in the cost of
medicine would have an impact on human rights, particularly the right
to health. It was also alleged that drug companies could manipulate the
provisions, which could disrupt the early entry of generic drugs.
ii)
Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA)
The participants welcomed the two cost-benefit analysis studies
conducted by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) and
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