Mercosur: “difficult” negotiations on pharmaceuticals
Keystone-SDA
Work still needs to be done on pharmaceutical products as part of the free trade agreement signed with Mercosur, said Swiss Economics Minister Guy Parmelin.
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However, Parmelin added that the outcome of the negotiations was very good.
“The negotiations were difficult right up to the end, particularly on the intellectual property of pharmaceutical products,” said Parmelin on arriving at Zurich airport.
He was returning from a visit to Brazil and Argentina, during which the free trade agreement between EFTA and Mercosur was concluded.
“Brazil has stalled on this point,” Parmelin explained. Negotiations are still possible, however, he added. Parmelin nevertheless felt that Switzerland had generally “achieved a very good result”, including access to the Mercosur market.
Translated from French by DeepL/mga
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