"We are to take the bill to parliament next week," Bakht told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on patents here when asked what efforts would be taken to provide EMRs.

The government was also sure of getting the amendment bill passed in parliament, he said. "I am not only optimistic but sure that the bill will be passed by parliament," the minister said, adding that the government had enough support to pass the amendment.

The union cabinet had, on November 23, decided to amend the 1970 Patents Act in order to give EMRs to overseas pharmaceutical and agro-chemical firms and meet the April 19, 1999, deadline of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The Patents Act is being amended to fulfill India's assurance to provide legally-backedpatent cover to foreign pharmaceutical and agro-chemical manufacturers to WTO's dispute settlement body (DSB) following a complaint lodged by the US and European Union.

The government, while deciding to grant EMRs to multinational pharmaceutical and agro-chemical companies, had also resolved to simultaneously start work for product patenting.

The move to speed up work for product patenting was initiated to convince the "swadeshi" lobby and non-governmental organisations which had opposed granting EMRs.

The industry ministry is of the view that pharmaceutical and agro-chemical multinationals might not get EMRs in India for at least the next three years as it would take that long to process applications after the Patents Act amendment.

So far, no application for EMRs has been filed compared to about 3,000 applications pending for product patenting before the industry ministry.

The industry ministry's move to allow EMRs first is believed to be aimed at buying more time for working out details onproduct patenting. Industry ministry sources say processing EMR applications would take time as the applicants would have to meet pre-conditions such as filing an application for product patent in India and getting the product patent from a WTO member country.

Industry ministry sources say the pre-qualification process itself could take more than a year. The companies would also have to obtain the approval to market the product in India, which itself is a very lengthy process, before being granted EMRs.

In its ruling last November, which was reiterated earlier this year, the WTO DSB had asked India to amend its Patents Act suitably to protect the interests of multinational agro-chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

While developed countries insist on patent protection to their agro-chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers citing article 70.8 and 70.9 of WTO, Indian WTO critics say that as a developing country India has time till 2002 to amend its Patents Act.

However, in the DSB ruling on EUcomplaint, India has assured that the amended Patents Act would be in place soon. The move to grant EMRs has evoked strong criticism from experts who have cautioned the government not to succumb to pressures from the global pharmaceutical lobby.

Experts say introduction of product patents with appropriate safeguards would provide the country options to reject such applications, limit the scope of patentability, and demand compulsory licensing, all unavailable under EMRs.