October 3, 2015

Pacific Rim nations close in on a landmark trade deal

Source: Reuters

Fri Oct 2, 2015 10:41pm EDT

Pacific trade ministers are optimistic of closing a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal after progress on Friday on hurdles involving autos, dairy products and intellectual property protections for expensive biologic drugs.

Ministers represented in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks in Atlanta met for 20 minutes before breaking for negotiators to resume work on specific issues, work that Japan's Economy Minister Akira Amari said on Friday would likely go on all night.

The United States and Australia are locked in intense negotiations over the length of time pharmaceutical companies have exclusive rights to produce and market next-generation medicines.

Australia is one of a group of half a dozen countries resisting a U.S. push to set a standard of eight years protection and see five years as a red line

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/03/us-trade-tpp-japan-idUSKCN0RX00L20151003

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Trade ministers from a dozen Pacific nations in Trans-Pacific Partnership Ministers meeting post in TPP Ministers ''Family Photo'' in Atlanta, Georgia October 1, 2015. Reuters/USTR Press Office/Handout

"Negotiators hope to wrap up Trans-Pacific Partnership talks by Saturday when a joint news conference by all 12 ministers has been scheduled."

A done deal.

October 2, 2015

French unveil 'world first' hydrogen-powered electric bike emitting only pure water

French firm launches Alpha electric-powered bike running on hydrogen, emiting pure water and with a recharge time of five minutes and range of 100km (62 miles)

UK Telegraph | Henry Samuel | October 1, 2015

The world’s first commercial electric bike running on hydrogen with only pure water as waste, so its makers claim, has been unveiled in France – and already snapped up by the country's post office.



It takes five minutes to charge and has a battery life of 100 kilometres (62 miles) and its Gallic makers claim it is a “world first”.

The Alpha bike, which hides its hydrogen batteries in its frame, leaves an almost neutral carbon footprint, its designers at Pragma Industries in Bidart, near Biarritz, southwestern France insist.

“The bike’s battery provides electricity from hydrogen and emits only pure water,” Pragma CEO Pierre Forté, 38, told AFP.

“This is a world first,” he said. A pit stop at special hydrogen recharge ranks only requires a five-minute charge compared to “three or four hours” for other types of electrically assisted bikes, he said...snip
MORE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11904005/French-unveil-world-first-hydrogen-powered-electric-bike-emitting-only-pure-water.html

The Torygraph is wrong. It's not the first. But at least they published a story about it.

Intelligent Energy ENV H2 Motorcycle



The Intelligent Energy ENV (Emissions Neutral Vehicle) is a motorcycle like no other. The ENV (pronounced “en vee”) is the envy of some of the other H2 motorcycle, scooter and wannabe manufacturers for its power, range, quietness and sleek design, though it does face some stiff competition from a few other manufacturers...
http://www.hydrogencarsnow.com/index.php/intelligent-energy-env/
http://www.intelligent-energy.com/our-divisions/automotive/overview/

In France-and around the world-H2 is #1

Wasserstoff ?????ό?? hidrógeno водород hidrojen idrogeno מימן hydrogène väte waterstof

October 2, 2015

Pacific trade ministers vow to reach deal but extra time needed

Source: Reuters

Trade ministers from a dozen Pacific nations meeting in Atlanta extended talks on a sweeping trade deal until Saturday in a bid to get a final agreement on the most ambitious trade pact in a generation.

Officials extended talks originally scheduled to wrap up on Thursday in a determined effort to produce a breakthrough on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would liberalize trade in 40 percent of the world economy for a region stretching from Vietnam to Canada.

"No one wants to leave without an agreement," Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told Reuters after a second plenary session of top officials from all 12 nations. "The good news is that we will not leave here without one."

Observers pointed to progress on autos, Canada's pledge to compensate farmers hurt by imports and signs of a possible compromise on patent protection for new drugs as evidence of advancement - although that remained a key sticking point...

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/02/us-trade-tpp-idUSKCN0RV5VN20151002

October 1, 2015

Why Is This Peruvian Woman With HIV Speaking Out Against an International Trade Agreement?

Advocates Say the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Could Prevent Access to Life-Saving Medications for Millions

TheBody.com | Barbara Jungwirth | September 28, 2015

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed trade agreement among the United States and 11 other nations around the Pacific Ocean: Japan, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Mexico and Brunei Darussalam. Negotiations of this agreement have been conducted in secret, but some of the proposed text has been leaked, including the chapter on intellectual property rights and patent protections.



Rachel, a woman living with HIV in Peru, states in the video below: "Because of competition and generic medications, the price of my treatment has dropped from US$10,000 to US$150 per year." The video says that the TPP patent protection provision would mean "more monopolies, less competition, fewer generic medications, that is: higher prices." One of the participants in the video calls such price increases "a luxury' she cannot afford.

The current proposal for the intellectual property chapter prohibits signatory countries from approving generic or biosimilar medications for eight years after a brand-name drug has been approved. Advocates say such a delay would deny people living with cancer, HIV and other serious medical conditions access to affordable life-saving medications. This, in turn, could affect the lives -- indeed, the very survival -- of millions of people in the developing world, according to Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF). Judit Rius Sanjuan, MSF's U.S. manager explains:

"Pharmaceutical companies already enjoy some of the highest profit margins and longest monopoly protections of any industry, and granting them extended and additional market exclusivity is just another way to delay price-lowering competition and keep medicines out of reach of MSF medical operations and millions of people."

A multinational campaign against the provision is collecting signatures on a petition to be delivered to the next (and possibly final) TPP meeting to be held September 30-October 2 in Atlanta, GA. The petition is available online. The campaign has also assembled statements from people living in countries that would be affected by this chapter of the agreement...snip
http://www.thebody.com/content/76476/oppose-the-patent-protection-provision-in-the-tpp-.html


#TPPkills - Peruvian Patients Speak Out
Published on Sep 23, 2015
Nuestra salud NO es negociable with English subtitles

Sep 30: Activists at Atlanta TPP Trade Negotiations


Published on Sep 30, 2015

Trade Activists
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPQX2EGr33pwD_i3c2pdRcw