Japan Press Weekly

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2012 March 21 - 27 [ECONOMY]

Pharmaceutical industry workers call on gov’t to give up TPP participation

Pharmaceutical industry workers on March 23 made representations to the Health Ministry, calling on the government to not take part in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) multinational pact which they claim will have a grave impact on citizens’ lives and health.

They also demanded that the ministry disclose information regarding prior consultations for the TPP if drugs are on the agenda.

A ministry official stated that no concrete discussions pertaining to drugs have been included in the consultations.

This action was conducted by the national liaison council of drug industry workers. After the representations, its members had talks with representatives of the Japanese Medical and Dental Practitioners for Improvement of Medical Care (Hodanren) and the Democratic Medical Institutions (Min-Iren) and determined to protect medical services from the TPP free-trade agreement.