Day December 2, 2019

Could Sanctioning South Africa for Copyright Reform Violate the World Trade Organization?

This note describes the limitations that the World Trade Organization agreements place on criteria for generalized systems of preference programs, such as those included in AGOA. First, the GSP enabling clause requires that factors be non-reciprocal, general, and oriented toward the recipients’ development. These standards may be violated when criteria are not based on a broad based international norm such as in the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Second, the dispute settlement understanding prohibits unilateral litigation of TRIPS.

Analyzing the Impact of Trade and Investment Agreements on Pharmaceutical Policy: Provisions, Pathways and Potential Impacts

[Deborah Gleeson, Joel Lexchin, Ronald Labonté, Belinda Townsend, Marc-André Gagnon, Jillian Kohler, Lisa Forman, and Kenneth C. Shadlen] Abstract: Trade and investment agreements negotiated after the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) have included increasingly elevated protection of intellectual property rights along with an expanding array of rules impacting many aspects of pharmaceutical policy. Despite the large body of literature on intellectual property and access to affordable medicines, the ways in which other provisions in trade agreements can affect pharmaceutical policy and, in turn, access to medicines have been little studied. There is a need for an analytical framework covering the full range of provisions, pathways, and potential impacts, on which to base future health and human rights impact assessment and research.

Our Guidelines for the Implementation of the DSM Directive

[Communia Association] We are thrilled to release our Guidelines for Implementation of the DSM Directive. These guidelines explain different provisions of the new Copyright Directive and make suggestions on what to advocate for during the implementation process of those provisions in the EU Member States. They are aimed at local advocates and national policy makers, and have the general objective of expanding and strengthening user rights at a national level beyond what is strictly prescribed by the new Directive.