Infojustice.org reports from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations in Lima, Peru that the intellectual property chapter shows no sign of resolution and the end of the TPP talks in 2013 is now highly unlikely.

“There is a strong sense in the halls of the current TPP negotiation that the end is not in sight,” wrote Prof. Sean Flynn of the American University law school in Washington, DC. “And one of the primary reasons for the blocked progress is a lack of consensus on intellectual property and pharmaceuticals issues.”

Infojustice reports:

“Officially, the Chief Negotiators have backed off the prior commitment to end the TPP negotiation by October, but are still clinging to a goal to end the negotiation by the ‘end of the year.’ But privately, none of the negotiators or stakeholders at this round would express any confidence that the intellectual property issues could be resolved by then. The issues still under contention are massive.

The intellectual property chapter has grown to over 80 pages of text – including all the bracketed suggestions and alternatives. Some negotiators describe it as the longest text currently under negotiation.

Many of the issues are completely blocked. There has not been any new negotiation text offered on the most controversial pharmaceutical provisions since the Melbourne round over a year ago. There is currently no mandate from many countries to negotiate (they only ‘consult’ and ‘discuss’) the pharmaceutical reimbursement chapter. Barbara Weisel described the pharmaceutical issues as being in a ‘period of reflection,’ and had no comment on when that period might end.”

Read the full text of the report here.