Uganda trade minister supports anti-counterfeit law, so long as generics aren't impeded

From IPSNews comes an article, "Uganda Bill Shouldn’t Block Generics, Minister Agrees", by Wambi Michael, to the effect that Gagawala Wambuzi, the country's trade minister is in agreement that his government’s controversial Counterfeit Goods Bill should not restrict the manufacture or import of life-saving generic medicines. The Bill, which proposes criminal penalties for counterfeiting, defines that concept widely as

"the manufacturing, producing, packaging, re-packaging, labelling or making of any goods which are imitated so as to be substantially similar to the protected goods without the authority of the intellectual property (IP) right owner subsisting in the country or elsewhere"

The minister is quoted as adding that Uganda’s interest in such a law is to have its industries protected from counterfeiters whom he said are targeting all Ugandan products.