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intellectual property

World has moved on from US, EU’s drug monopoly. India and China are changing IP regulations
4-Jan-2022 The Print
Even without an IP waiver from the WTO, China and India are leading the challenge to the West’s vaccine monopoly.
The AfCFTA Investment Protocol: preparations for the negotiations and expectations
29-Dec-2021 Tralac
The preparations for the negotiations of the Investment Protocol under the AfCFTA agreement (The Agreement) are already underway though still in the early stages.
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.
When free trade is not free
21-Dec-2021 Mail & Guardian
If the states of the world take seriously their own rhetorical commitments to climate change mitigation, job creation, and sustainable development, they must reject the free trade paradigm.
IP, tariffs, data protection to dominate UK-India FTA negotiations
20-Dec-2021 Business Standard
Intellectual Property protection and enforcement, standards, tariffs on several products, and data protection are among the key issues that would dominate the India-UK FTA.
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.
Investment governance in Africa to support climate resilience and decarbonization
13-Dec-2021 Afronomics Law
African nations should not be expected to take the lead in addressing a climate emergency they did not create. The priority for Africa is to receive support and investment to build resilience and adapt to climate impacts.
Trade deals pushing UPOV: an interactive map
2-Dec-2021 GRAIN
Which countries use free trade deals to push corporate control over seeds? Which countries are under attack from these deals?
US-China phase-one trade deal gets a reality check after nearly two years
22-Nov-2021 South China Morning Post
As the two-year deadline for the phase-one trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is approaching, all eyes are on the next step.
‘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.
EU-ESA EPA: EU proposals (Jun 2021)
21-Oct-2021 European Commission
Changes to dairy product names likely needed for EU trade deal - minister
19-Oct-2021 RNZ
NZ Trade Minister Damien O’Connor is back from a two-week trip to the US and EU and says good progress has been made on trade talks.
India calls for IPR waiver in WTO, dismantling trade barriers in global fight against pandemic
12-Oct-2021 The HIndu
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday called for a waiver of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and dismantling new trade barriers in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Centre seeks inputs on IPR from industry for India-UAE free trade pact
4-Oct-2021 The Hindu Businessline
On a tight time schedule for the proposed India-UAE free trade pact, the DPIIT has called for suggestions from industry bodies and other stakeholders on IPR issues that could make it easier for Indians to do business in the UAE.
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
Examining trade disputes in AfCFTA agreement: The need to engage private sector in Nigeria
2-Sep-2021 Vanguard News Nigeria
AfCFTA roundtable brought together business leaders, academia, government representatives, trade, and legal experts to discuss and deliberate on dispute issues in implementing the agreement in Nigeria.
African social movements demand that AU suspends undemocratic and pro-industry seed and GMO guidelines and processes
26-Aug-2021 ACBio
More than 50 African groups denounce how the African Union is using the African Continental Free Trade Area as a justification to push the seed harmonisation agenda.
India-EU FTA talks likely in September but no resolution yet on linking of investments, GIs
27-Jul-2021 The Hindu Businessline
India and the EU are likely to begin negotiations on the revamped proposal for a bilateral FTA in September but there continues to be disagreement on whether to carve out separate agreements on investment protection and geographical indications (GIs).
Trade agreements privatising biodiversity
15-Jul-2021 GRAIN
For the past 30 years, industrialised countries have been forcing governments of the global South to adopt laws that privatise seeds, mainly through free trade agreements.
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.