On Wednesday 15 February the Bulgarian Government’s Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov told reporters that his country would halt the ratification procedure for the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The decision comes after recent well attended and coordinated demonstrations against the Agreement in Sofia and 15 other Bulgarian cities. Bulgaria joins the Netherlands, Germany and Poland in stalling ratification.

ACTA is a multi-national agreement aimed at establishing an international legal framework for targeting counterfeit goods, generic medicines and copyright infringement on the Internet. Whilst controversy is generally centering on the issue of internet freedom, Health Action International (Europe) believes ACTA “would hinder generic competition, leaving healthcare systems and consumers to pay higher prices for medicines. Similar provisions as those in ACTA have already stopped generic medicinesin transit through Europe, delaying their speedy delivery to developing countries.”

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