Special Economic Zones (SEZs), with their mix of tax incentives, trade benefits, deregulation, and other investment privileges, have long been a popular tool for governments to encourage economic development. Thailand and Myanmar are among the latest Southeast Asian countries to embrace SEZs. Every country in ASEAN, except Brunei, now has SEZs. Indeed, the SEZ policies in Thailand and Myanmar are part of a broader regional trend to liberalize trade and investment.

A new law on air carriage came into effect in Thailand on May 14, 2015. The law, called the International Air Carriage Act (Air Carriage Act), covers air carrier liability for accidents, delays, and cargo losses. Until now, Thailand did not have any specific legislation governing air carriage liability, although claims could be brought under the general provisions of the Civil and Commercial Code.

In December of this year, amendments to the Civil Procedure Code allowing for class-action lawsuits will come into force. If the effects on the legal systems of other jurisdictions are good indicators, the Thai legal landscape will undergo a fundamental shift. This article will introduce class actions generally and then look at the new legislation and its potential impact.

Like many developing countries, Vietnam has tended to exclude first and second (or subsequent) medical use inventions from patent protection in order to reduce drug prices. The patent office has interpreted current Vietnamese regulations as not including use inventions, including medical use inventions, and thus has objected to patent applications for such inventions. However, an examination of the regulations reveals some different results.

Vietnam’s Drug Distribution PolicyUnder its WTO commitments, Vietnam agreed to allow foreign-invested entities (FIEs) to conduct distribution services (i.e., commission agent, wholesale, and retail services) for most types of products, but it specifically excluded “pharmaceutical products and drugs.” Consequently, foreign pharmaceutical producers typically establish legal presence in Vietnam by way of representative offices through which they can conduct marketing activities, and use local drug distributors to conduct sales and delivery of their products.

To ensure harmony in regulations between ASEAN countries as well as tighten the management of drug registration, the Ministry of Health (MOH) issued Circular No. 44/2014/TT-BYT dated November 25, 2014, on Registration of Drugs (Circular 44) to replace its previous Circular No. 22/2009/TT-BYT (Circular 22) dated November 24, 2009. Circular 44 took effect on January 15, 2015. Among the contents of Circular 44, there are four main points changed from Circular 22:

Patents play a key role in encouraging the development of pharmaceutical products. It can take several hundred million dollars to discover, develop, and gain regulatory approval for a new drug, and funding for research is obtained primarily from profits made while the innovators have exclusive rights to market their medicines. The length of this exclusivity is therefore an important aspect of patent policy for pharmaceuticals.

As a developing country with a large population, Vietnam has long viewed parallel imports as an effective antidote to the high price of innovator drugs. The parallel importation of medicines for the prevention and treatment of human diseases is permitted, and even encouraged, under Vietnamese law. Many pharmaceutical manufacturers, however, are understandably concerned that parallel importation could lead to diminished profits, thereby reducing research and development efforts, and leading to a slowdown in the innovation of new drugs.