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intellectual property

Egypt manages to reach African consensus on the rules of origin pending in AfCFTA agreement
31-Oct-2025 State information service
Adoption of eight annexes to the Intellectual Property Protocol in preparation for their submission to the upcoming African Union Summit.
Trade deals weaponised to enforce strict seed patents, warns new report
17-Oct-2025 Down to Earth
Countries in the global South being pressured through trade agreements to adopt restrictive UPOV seed laws, threatening farmers’ rights and food sovereignty.
Malaysian small-scale farmers worry about rights under proposed seed law changes
10-Oct-2025 Mongabay
Malaysia is preparing to amend its Protection of New Plant Varieties Act to join the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) by 2026 - a key criterion for Malaysia to join a trans-Pacific free trade agreement.
Free trade agreements pushing UPOV as of 2025
10-Oct-2025 GRAIN
GRAIN has updated its dataset on free trade agreements that push harsh new standards for intellectual property rights over biodiversity, going beyond the international standards set by the World Trade Organisation.
History of the negotiations of the TRIPS Agreement
8-Sep-2025 South Centre
Coercion rather than negotiations among equal partners seems to explain the final adoption of TRIPS Agreement.
Battling for farmers’ seed systems: UPOV 91 and trade agreements
4-Sep-2025 IATP
A IATP report on on how the U.S. and its seeds companies use free trade agreements to undermine the policy space available for farmers to save, use, exchange, and sell farm-saved seeds.
Malaysia too hasty in signing EFTA trade agreement
1-Jul-2025 Consumers’ Association of Penang
Consumers’ Association of Penang express strong disappointment over Malaysia’s rushed signing of a trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, criticizing the government’s failure to address concerns about the intellectual property (IP) provisions.
Remove TRIPS+ demands from the EFTA-Malaysia Free-Trade Agreement
25-Jun-2025 Alliance Sud
The undersigned Swiss NGOs are urging the Swiss government to actively engage within EFTA to drop these provisions known as TRIPS+.
Malaysia – EFTA Economic Partnership Agreement (MEEPA) will jeopardise public health, access to seeds & farmers’ rights
17-Jun-2025 Consumers’ Association of Penang
Consumers’ Association of Penang submitted a Memorandum on June 2025 to strongly urge the Malaysian government not to rush to endorse and/or sign the trade deal with EFTA. If a deal is to be signed, such a deal must not contain any TRIPS-plus obligation.
Malaysia-European Free Trade Association partnership agreement could negatively impact many sectors, says CAP
16-Jun-2025 The Star
The proposed Malaysia-EFTA Economic Partnership Agreement (MEEPA) could negatively affect public health, farmers’ rights, and food security in Malaysia. It includes "TRIPS-plus" intellectual property provisions that extend patent monopolies, limit access to affordable generic medicines, and increase drug costs.
Malaysia-EFTA economic partnership agreement (MEEPA) would tie Malaysia’s hands on access to medicines
12-Jun-2025 Info Justice
Malaysian negotiators have accepted intellectual property protections above those required by the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which will adversely affect affordable and equitable access to medicines in Malaysia for generations.
EFTA-Malaysia FTA: Protection of intellectual property annex (June 2025)
5-Jun-2025
India, EU may go for comprehensive FTA; investment, GI pacts to follow later
4-Jun-2025 The Economic Times
India and the European Union are likely to agree upon a comprehensive free trade agreement instead of an interim deal, an official said.
India keeps data exclusivity out of UK FTA to protect local drug makers
13-May-2025 Financial Express
India safeguards its $25B generic drug industry by excluding data exclusivity from the UK FTA, ensuring affordable drug access and faster generic launches.
Why the Kenya/UAE comprehensive economic partnership is bad for Kenya’s health sector
1-May-2025 Citizen Digital
On January 14 this year, President William Ruto and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between their respective countries.
How America ripped off Australia with ’free trade’
17-Mar-2025 ABC
Trump’s trade war has only just begun and while Australia has been right to steer clear of retaliation, it may deliver some scope in abandoning the worst aspects of our free trade agreements.
Thailand signed FTA with EFTA: no worries about TRIPs Plus, except Border Measure & IP Enforcement
17-Feb-2025 Access to Medicines
While the Thailand - EFTA agreemnts avoids TRIPS-plus measures that would directly impact medicine access and the universal healthcare system, Thai CSOs group remain concerns regarding border measures and intellectual property enforcement.
Thai CSOs warn the senate’s subcommittee about the ongoing FTA negotiation with the EU on TRIPs-plus provisions harmful to access to medicines
10-Jan-2025 Access to Medicines
FTA Watch representatives warned that stricter IP rules in a potential EU FTA could impact access to medicines, increase healthcare costs, and harm Thailand’s domestic pharmaceutical industry. They also highlighted concerns about EU demands regarding government procurement, plant variety protection (UPOV 1991), and import of remanufactured goods.
Seeds, UPOV91 and trade deals: our response to the Government position
3-Dec-2024 Transform Trade
The UK has an opportunity to lead by example, removing UPOV91 provisions from trade deals and redirecting development assistance toward farmer-led initiatives.
Thai CSOs’ letter to the EU chief negotiator regarding concerns over the ongoing FTA negotiation with Thailand
29-Nov-2024 Access to medicines
Civil society and non-government organizations in Thailand oppose the provisions proposed by the EU that will have a vast and adverse impact on access to medicines, universal health coverage scheme, agriculture, food sovereignty, consumer protection, and livelihoods of Thai people.