US pressed to allow cheap drugs for poor countries

The White House came under mounting pressure last night to force America's pharmaceutical companies to accept a deal to provide cheap drugs to poor countries amid fears that the deadlocked global trade talks could end in a repeat of the disastrous Seattle meeting three years ago.

The US delegation asked for more time yesterday to take soundings from its drugs industry after ambassadors from more than 140 countries of the World Trade Organisation gave broad backing to a compromise brokered by South Africa.

Resistance from the Bush administration has held up a deal on affordable drugs - a significant demand by developing countries as part of the Doha round of trade liberalisation - but there was concern in Geneva last night that further US opposition would bring the talks to a standstill.

Sergio Marchi, chairman of the WTO's general council, warned last night that negotiators could not afford to leave decisions until the September meeting of trade ministers in Cancun, Mexico. "If we pass everything on to Cancun we are back to Seattle."

There was optimism before yesterday's meeting that the US would accept proposals thrashed out in talks between its pharmaceutical industry and the South African trade minister, Alec Irwin, at last month's meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

In December, the US rejected an accord as being too loose, insisting that any pact should be limited to widespread infectious diseases. It provided a list, including HIV/Aids, which it said fell into that category. Under pressure from pharmaceutical companies such as Merck and Pfizer, the Bush administration said without agreed limitations developing countries could ignore international patents on almost any treatment.

WTO sources said that Mr Irwin had sought to assure the US that poor countries would only be interested in drugs for life-threatening illnesses. Under the plan, the WTO would accept that poor countries were allowed to import cheap generic copies of patented drugs, but US concerns would be allayed by an explanatory statement limiting the concession to health emergencies or pandemics. WTO sources believe the compromise should be enough to convince US firms that their patents will not be eroded.

However, there was some anger among African delegations last night. "Which country is going to want to have to say it has a health emergency in order to be allowed drugs?" one source said. "You can just imagine what that would do for tourism."