Category Trade Agreements

Switzerland Should Stop Pushing for TRIPS-Plus Measures in Trade Agreement With Indonesia

[Public Eye] Swiss and Norwegians civil society groups led by Public Eye and Third World Network addressed on September 11, 2018, their serious concerns in an open letter to their Minister of Trade over TRIPS-plus provisions being included in the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), currently under negotiation between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Indonesia. The reply from the Swiss government doesn’t address those concerns and makes some very problematic assertions. Public Eye therefore reiterates its call on Switzerland/EFTA to remove all TRIPS-plus provisions from the final CEPA with Indonesia. 

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Will Enter Into Force on December 30

The New Zealand Ministry of Trade and Export Growth has formally announced that the CPTPP has been ratified by six countries - Australia, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Japan and Mexico - and will take affect on December 30. The sixth country (Australia) gave formal notification today, so the agreement will be in force among these six countries after the required 60 day period.

Moderating the Impact of Patent Linkage on Access to Medicines: Lessons from Variations in South Korea, Australia, Canada, and the United States

[Kyung-Bok Son, Ruth Lopert, Deborah Gleeson and Tae-Jin Lee] The inclusion of patent linkage mechanisms in bilateral and plurilateral trade and investment agreements has emerged as a key element in the United States’ TRIPS-Plus intellectual property (IP) negotiating agenda. However, the provisions establishing patent linkage mechanisms in several agreements appear to reflect a degree of ambiguity, potentially enabling some flexibility in their implementation. In this study, we reviewed the features of the prototypic patent linkage mechanism established by the Hatch-Waxman Act in the United States, and compared these with the implementation of systems in three countries whose agreements with the US include patent linkage obligations. From these analyses, we draw lessons for moderating the impact of these mechanisms on access to generic medicines.

What next for mega trade deals? Australian Senate passes Pacific Trade Deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership

QUT's leading legal expert on the Trans Pacific Partnership says the deal has profound impacts for Australia but warns settlement of cross-border disputes by an international tribunal remains controversial. 

Professor Matthew Rimmer, from QUT’s Faculty of Law, said it had taken more than a decade to do but today the Australian Senate passed the legislation by 33 votes to 15.

“The most controversial issues remained investor-state dispute settlement, labour rights, health care and the protection of the environment,” Professor Rimmer said.

Copyright Exceptions, Trade Agreements, and the Digital Economy

PIJIP has researched IP and trade for a while, but we’ve mostly focused on FTAs that included the US.  This year we’ve begun to broaden our view – to look more closely at agreements like RCEP and other Asia-Pacific agreements. This fall we began a detailed comparison of CPTPP, RCEP, CETA, RCEP, EU-Mercosur, EU-Japan, and the China-Korea FTA, with a focus on the copyright and enforcement provisions, and with an eye toward provisions that affect the digital economy. In the last few couple of weeks we’ve begun looking into the provisions in USMCA as well.  This post compares some of the existing text on two provisions: the ‘balance’ provision and protection of TPMs.

U.S., Canada and Mexico Agree Upon, and Release, Renegotiated Trade Agreement Text

Trade negotiators from the U.S., Canada and Mexico have agreed to a new NAFTA text. To take effect, the agreement will need to be approved by legislatures in all countries.... The Intellectual Property chapter lengthens copyright terms, and it does not include a version of the copyright balance language found in Art. 16.88 of the TPP. It requires 10 years of marketing exclusivity for biologic drugs and patents on second uses. 

Crunch Time in the NAFTA Negotiations: What’s at Play for Canada on Digital Policy?

As the NAFTA negotiations hit a possible home stretch this week, the focal point has been primarily on issues such as dispute resolution, the dairy sector, and the auto industry. However, the digital policy issues will have huge implications for Canada and the outline of the agreement between the U.S. and Mexico suggests that Canada is facing considerable pressure to agree to changes to our copyright, patent, IP enforcement, and digital policy rules, contrary to our preferred negotiation approach.

The NAFTA Negotiations — And Canada’s Priority Watch List Designation: It’s All About the Leverage

[Hugh Stephens] Abstract: Negotiating tactics can often appear harsh, but when the United States Trade Representative (USTR) placed Canada on its Priority Watch List (PWL), the move went beyond the standard give-and-take of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada – a nation that believes in the rule of law – joins China, Algeria, Kuwait and Venezuela, to name just a few, on the PWL list for its alleged “worst” record in intellectual property standards. Granted, Canada has room for improvement in this area, but for the USTR’s annual Special 301 report to place it on the PWL is hardly credible. It is no coincidence that Canada, the only G7 country – and virtually the only western country – to make either the PWL and the USTR’s lesser Watch List (WL), is also in the midst of renegotiating NAFTA with the United States and Mexico.