Tax Court allows tax credit for herbs and vitamins, not for massage

In August 2001, the Tax Court of Canada issued its most recent judgment on the tax deductability of expenses for complementary/alternative therapies. The decision in Pagnotta v Canada is significant for people with HIV/AIDS who use such therapies. It also illustrates how provincial and federal laws regulating health-care practitioners and natural health products have a financial impact on the cost of accessing treatment.     

Report on complementary/alternative health care and HIV/AIDS

In 2001, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network published a lengthy report on Complementary/Alternative Health Care and HIV/AIDS: Legal, Ethical & Policy Issues in Regulation. The document is the first in a series of papers to be produced by the Legal Network on priority legal and ethical issues related to HIV/AIDS care, treatment, and support. The article below summarizes the contents of the report.     

WTO ministerial conference adopts declaration on TRIPS and public health

In November 2001, the 4th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization adopted a Ministerial Declaration on public health and the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the "TRIPS Agreement"). The declaration represents a modest advance in addressing concerns that strict patent laws, and threats of trade sanctions, will be a barrier to most of the world's people with HIV/AIDS accessing affordable medicines. The full significance of the declaration remains to be seen, as it depends on what political impact it has at the WTO and on its member countries, and what legal impact it will have in the interpretation of the TRIPS Agreement.     

WTO: US and Argentina settle dispute over patents and data protection

In May 2000, supplementing an earlier complaint filed in May 1999, the US filed a complaint against Argentina, alleging that its patent laws violate the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (the TRIPS Agreement). The gist of the US complaint was that Argentina's law failed to provide: (1) adequate protection against "unfair" commercial use of undisclosed test data submitted in order to get market approval of pharmaceutical products; (2) certain safeguards for compulsory licences on an invention granted on the basis of inadequate working by the patent holder; and (3) adequate measures to prevent infringements of patent rights. The US also alleged that Argentina denies certain exclusive rights of patent holders, such as the exclusive right to import the patented product into the country. At the end of May 2002, the US and Argentina notified the WTO that they had reached a "mutually agreed solution," without prejudice to their respective rights and obligations under WTO agreements, and the US has withdrawn its complaint.     

中国开拓俄罗斯建筑市场的一面旗帜——对布拉戈维申斯克市华富公司的调查与思考

苏联解体后 ,国内外很多企业家赴俄开拓新市场。由于转轨中的俄罗斯政局动荡 ,经济滑坡、法规不健全等原因 ,企业经营风险很大 ,为此绝大多数企业难以为继并先后离俄回国。中国华富公司却独辟蹊径闯出了一条成功之路 ,成为中国开拓俄罗斯建筑市场的一面旗帜。该公司成功的奥秘是根据俄国国情 ,审时度势 ,适时打好五张牌 :质量牌、信誉牌、经营牌、本土牌和远见牌     

South Africa: airline found guilty of employment discrimination

On 28 September 2000, the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled that South African Airways (SAA) violated the constitutional rights of Jacques Hoffmann in September 1996 by refusing to employ him as a cabin attendant on the ground that he is HIV-positive.     

Canada loses appeal of WTO panel ruling on minimum patent terms

In the last issue, we reported on a ruling of a Panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that Canada was in breach of the international Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement). The Panel found that Canada's Patent Act does not provide the minimum patent terms required by the trade agreement. Canada appealed that decision, but on 18 September 2000 the WTO Appellate Body upheld the Panel ruling.     

European Court of Human Rights accepts blood donor screening based on sexual orientation

In a series of three rulings released simultaneously on 15 October 2002, the European Court of Human Rights dismissed complaints that Italy's approach to screening blood donors infringed privacy rights and discriminated against lesbians and gay men.