The company admitted being surprised when Hugo Chávez declared that his country would no longer recognise patented products and that it may copy packing technology developed by Tetra Pak as part of a strategy to reduce costs and reliance on foreign companies.
The company was reacting to statements made by Chávez on his weekly Aló Presidente TV show, in which he said: “We have aluminium and paper. Why can’t we make that material here? What are patents? That’s universal knowledge. We don’t have to be subject to capitalist laws.”
The government has also said it would seize cardboard manufacturers that refused to supply packaging to state-owned food companies.
Tetra Pak senior vice president, Jörgen Haglind, said: “The statement by President Chávez obviously surprised us given the international recognition of the importance of patents. We will initiate talks with the ministry to better understand the rationale of his statement.
“Tetra Pak has been present in the country for over 25 years and has, for 15 years, local production in Venezuela, and we trust we can continue to support our customers and ultimately the consumers of the country.”
FoodBev.com will follow developments as the story unfolds. If Chávez carries out his threat and breaches the international recognised patents, Venezuela could face sanctions from the World Trade Organisation for breaching the Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights convention (Trips), which it signed up to in 1995.
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