Day October 22, 2021

WTO Extends Measures for LDCs to Access Knowledge, But Why not Go the Whole Way?

[Teresa Hackett] When members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently agreed to extend the transition period by which Least Developed Countries (LDCs) must apply WTO rules on intellectual property, it was a welcome decision. However, it fell short of what LDCs had requested, and left open the wider issue of the need for special and differential treatment after a country graduates from LDC status, especially relevant given the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.