FTA will not affect Morocco's ability to preserve public health, Zoellick

US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick has underlined that the "Morocco FTA will not affect that country's ability to take measures necessary to protect public health or to use the WTO solution to import drugs."

The two countries "confirmed their understanding" that the chapter concerning intellectual property does not "affect the ability of either Party to take necessary measures to protect public health by promoting access to medicines for all, in particular concerning cases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other epidemics as well as circumstances of extreme urgency or national emergency," noted a statement issued Thursday by the US trade representative department.

According to the same source, the accord approved by the American congress, will "not prevent effective utilization of last year's WTO consensus allowing developing countries that lack pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity to import drugs under compulsory licenses."

The FTA with Morocco, signed last June 15, will eliminate tariffs on 95% of bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products, with all remaining tariffs to be eliminated within nine years.

The deal is expected to give a fresh impetus to two-way trade between Morocco and the United States.