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Clamour against United Kingdom’s free-trade negotiator
20-Mar-2023 The Telegraph
Groups from India and nearly 40 countries express concern about a leaked chapter from the proposed FTA that they say appears to represent ‘a wish list’ of the pharmaceutical industry.
Health CSO statement on Kenya _US STIP
28-Feb-2023 Health CSO statement on Kenya _US STIP
We are part of a think tank that advocates for increased access to essential medicines by ensuring that intellectual property laws and policies do not create unnecessary barriers to access to affordable essential medicines, especially for people living with and affected by HIV and TB.
Kenya anti-tobacco crusaders fault President Ruto’s South Korea deal
1-Dec-2022 The EastAfrican
A group of advocates of tobacco use control has denounced the deal Kenya’s president, William Ruto made with South Korea to enhance tobacco trade, saying it will put more Kenyans at risk of diseases linked to the farming and use of the product.
India-UK FTA lands in row over patent evergreening
22-Nov-2022 Live Mint
A clause allowing patent evergreening in the India-UK free trade agreement will harm India’s generics industry and the UK’s healthcare service that is dependent on Indian drugs, The Lancet warned, prompting the UK to declare the future of its health service is “not on the table".
MSF responds to UK’s disastrous proposal on intellectual property in UK-India Free Trade Agreement
2-Nov-2022 MSF
UK IP demands contain provisions that would drastically harm access to affordable, lifesaving generic medicines from India, upon which millions of people around the world rely.
Thai gold mine blamed for sickening local villagers is set to reopen
11-May-2022 Mongabay
Citing the free-trade agreement between Australia and Thailand, Kingsgate, announced in November 2017 that it had filed a suit against Thailand at an international arbitration tribunal.
Children’s cereal company v. Mexico & the corporate use of investor-state dispute settlement to influence policymaking
4-Feb-2022 CCSI
In September, a children’s cereal company threatened to sue Mexico over its adoption of a food packaging regulation.
An India-UK trade deal could mean a race to the bottom for Indian workers
1-Feb-2022 New Internationalist
On farmers and food, vaccine inequality, climate justice and digital rights, we need to act in solidarity – and not allow trade rules to sacrifice people to corporate profit.
They concern you more than you know: On the perils and potential of international investment agreements for the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and COVID-19 discussions at the World Trade Organization
23-Dec-2021 IISD
Talks on a possible COVID-19-related TRIPS decision aimed at scaling up vaccine and therapeutics production and equitable distribution continue but investment agreements are absent from them.
33 groups call for tougher stance on vaccine apartheid in trade negotiations
13-Dec-2021 Scoop
33 domestic and international groups have written to NZ Prime Minister, calling for NZ to use its bilateral trade negotiations with the United Kingdom and European Union to push for an end to vaccine apartheid.
WTO response to the pandemic - Walker’s text 22/11/2021
23-Nov-2021
Walker’s text of 22 November 2021 on the WTO response to the pandemic
‘Clear risk’ UK joining Pacific trade deal will raise drug prices for NHS
17-Nov-2021 The Independent
There is evidence of a potential conflict between the CPTPP and the UK’s current system of market authorisation of generic and biosimilar drugs.
Threats, bullying, lawsuits: tobacco industry’s dirty war for the African market
11-Oct-2021 The Guardian
In pursuit of growth in Africa, British American Tobacco and others use intimidatory tactics to attempt to suppress health warnings and regulation, including accusing governments of breaching trade agreements.
Multinational corporations and COVID-19: Intellectual property rights vs. human rights
20-Sep-2021 Socialist Project
Transnational companies today rely more than ever on IPR to structure their global value chains, writes Peter Rossman
Do international trade and investment agreements generate regulatory chill in public health policymaking? A case study of nutrition and alcohol policy in South Africa
8-Sep-2021 Globalization and Health
Given the potential for wider use of the ISDS mechanism, strategies to protect public health policy space in the context of both international trade and investment treaty and dispute settlement contexts remain important.
Defending access to medicines in regional trade agreements: lessons from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
14-Jul-2021 Globalization and Health
This paper examines civil society and health actors’ views of the conditions that successfully contributed to the removal of these measures in RCEP, with a focus on intellectual property and access to medicines.
Fears junk food regulation chilled by free trade agreements
31-May-2021 Stuff
Efforts to combat child obesity have fallen behind the pack as international free-trade agreements threaten to put a “chill” on junk food regulations, experts say.
In memory of Heesob Nam, a patent attorney who fought against vaccine inequality until the end
31-May-2021 Kyunghyang
Heesob Nam, a patent attorney who dedicated his life to preventing the monopoly of ’intellectual property’ by a few, passed away on May 10th.
Corporate courts threat to insects
18-May-2021 The Ecologist
The shadowy parallel court system of major trade agreements makes it difficult for countries to ban broad-spectrum insecticides.
UK-Australia trade deal could mean children and patients eating meat reared in ways illegal in UK, warn experts
11-May-2021 The Independent
‘It would be grossly hypocritical for the government to allow unsustainable meat to be served in schools and hospitals,’ say critics