KUALA LUMPUR: The signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will not lead to an increase in the price of medicine, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
He said the prices of pharmaceuticals were guided by various external factors.
“We must realise that there are many factors that affect the prices of medicine, including currency exchange rates, research cost as well as clinical trial periods,” he said during a special sitting of the Dewan Rakyat to debate the trade agreement today.
Mustapa said the TPPA would ensure that medical patents would be protected for 20 years under Malaysian law.
He said under the agreement, pharmaceutical companies could register their clinical test data to receive protection for five years through the pharmaceutical data protection process.
Mustapa also allayed fears that the Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) under the TPPA would prevent the government from having a say on matters relating to public health, security, and the environment.
“ISDS is nothing new in Malaysia. Until today, we have signed 74 bilateral trade agreements and eight free trade agreements that contain ISDS.
“ISDS is meant to protect local investors in countries that have signed trade agreements with Malaysia. The ISDS will be further improved under the TPPA, and these improvements must be made via consultation.”
ISDS is an instrument of public international law that grants an investor the right to use dispute settlement proceedings against a foreign government.
Mustapa assured the public that the TPPA would not encourage foreign workers to flood the country, and that the entry of skilled foreign labour was subject to local labour laws and regulations.
He also denied claims that Malaysia would be “colonised” by foreign countries under the TPPA.
“Malaysian investments in foreign countries are valued at about RM600 billion, while foreign investments in Malaysia are valued at RM500 billion.
“The presence of Malaysian companies in foreign countries does not mean we are colonising them, and vice versa. Besides, investors from the US, Japan and Singapore have been in Malaysia a long time.”