Pharmaceutical industry seeks delayed closure of EU free goods trade talks

Pharmaceutical industry representatives will apply today to Jan Kulakowski, chief EU membership negotiator, for postponement of the closure of negotiations on the free trade of goods, originally scheduled for March 29. If Polish drug producers are not adequately protected, they will have to suspend manufacture of most of their products after Poland's accession to the European Union.The meeting is intended to persuade Kulakowski to take into account industry interests by delaying closure by a few months. According to EU requirements, about 7,000 medicines manufactured in Poland will have to be registered before Poland's accession, at a cost of $100 million to $150 million, which seems impossible to pay. However, producers have not yet submitted either a detailed pharmaceutical market analysis or a list of products for which a transition period should be granted. Without such documents, Polish negotiators will be unable to apply for the requested transition period. (Puls Biznesu, p.12, Prawo i Gospodarka, p.4) M S.-C.