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Trade-related intellectual property rights, access to medicines and human rights - Morocco
21-Apr-2006 3D
The briefing calls for an independent human rights impact assessment of the effect of intellectual property rules in the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on access to medicines and the enjoyment of human rights in Morocco.
US-Peru free trade deal a step back for development
20-Apr-2006 Oxfam America
International aid organization Oxfam criticized today’s signing of the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Washington, an agreement it says would do more harm than good for millions of Peruvians who live in poverty.
US pushes to limit generic drug rights
18-Apr-2006
Under global trading rules, the inventors of medicines ordinarily enjoy the right to a 20-year monopoly on their inventions. But five years ago, the United States joined 141 other countries to sign the Doha Declaration, confirming the right of poor countries to break drug patents and produce cheap generic drugs in the event of contagions like HIV.
US biotech deal blazes Aussie trail
12-Apr-2006
At just $4million, it’s hardly the biggest biotech deal ever struck by an Australian company, but it’s an important first.
The US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA): The intellectual property provisions
26-Mar-2006 USTR
Report of the US government’s Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (ITAC-15)
FTA Watch statement: In support of Korean people’s struggle against the Korea-US FTA
24-Mar-2006
Although Thailand and South Korea are different in terms of development, people in both countries share a common demand for the protection of their right to affordable medicines and treatment.
Rural Pharmacists call to oust Thaksin
6-Mar-2006
The Rural Pharmacists Club issued a statement on Sunday calling for caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to resign and said the prime minister should face an investigation by independent committee over his alleged attempts to amend law to allow foreign companies to take over the country’s vital state enterprises.
South African Custom Union planning for FTA with India
5-Mar-2006 PTI
The South African Customs Union is in talks with the Indian government for signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to enhance the trade and business between both the countries.
Appeal for Malaysians to have access to affordable medicines
5-Mar-2006
Open letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Tripping up TRIPs debates
24-Feb-2006 Tripping up TRIPs debates
Access to medicine is at the forefront of multilateral debates surrounding the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). This paper argues that bilateralism allows the United States to circumvent these debates and to set standards that serve and protect the pharmaceutical industry.
US-Thailand: Talks could slow over plant and drug issues
19-Feb-2006 Bangkok Post
Differences over pharmaceuticals could be overcome, but the countries are far from reaching a common understanding on biodiversity issues.
‘Secret’ FTA details on the Net
8-Feb-2006
Details of US proposals in free-trade talks with Thailand - perceived by many Thais as “forbidden information” the government has tried to cover up - were recently posted for all to see in cyberspace. Witoon Leanchamroon, director of BioThai, a non-government organisation working for bio-diversity and community rights, said at a press conference yesterday he had been told a group of Americans involved in public health issues had posted a full text of the patent chapter from the Thai-US free trade talks at www.bilaterals.org.
EDITORIAL: Health at stake in free-trade talks
8-Feb-2006 The Nation
For the United States, intellectual property rights represent the single most valuable asset in light of the new reality of information-based economies and where they derive their national wealth. The supremacy of the US as a global power depends on how effective it is in acquiring and maintaining its ownership of knowledge assets.
Draft amendment to patent law a ’sell-out’
8-Feb-2006 Bangkok Post
Opponents of a free trade area (FTA) agreement with the US have lashed out at the government’s proposed amendment of Thai patent law to facilitate the United States’ patenting of drugs and living organisms in Thailand. They fear it would lead to greater control of the country’s resources by American firms.
Myths and realities: The impact of the US-Thai FTA on access to medicines
2-Feb-2006 Health GAP
Reeling from the negative publicity and pro-access to medicines messaging in Thailand and internationally, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has mounted a public relations campaign full of distortions and omissions.
Free trade with US will hurt health care
1-Feb-2006
Will the hands that save the lives of Thailand’s sick be tied once a free trade deal between this country and the United States is signed, later this year?
US-Thailand FTA - IPR text proposed by US (2006)
27-Jan-2006
US proposal on ’patents’ and on ’measures related to certain regulated products’ for negotiation with Thailand under the IPR chapter of the current US-Thailand FTA talks.
IP standards in US-Peru FTA to affect talks with Colombia and Ecuador?
26-Jan-2006 ICTSD
Critics argue that the biodiversity provisions in the US-Peru FTA do not improve the status quo to effectively tackle concerns over misappropriation of biodiversity and TK.
Ecuador-Colomb-US resume FTA talks
25-Jan-2006 Prensa Latina
Ecuador, along with Colombia, is reopening Wednesday in Washington joint negotiation over the copyright issue in the Free Trade Agreement with the US, despite growing refusal in Quito.
Sacrificing lives for patents under FTA
17-Jan-2006 Bangkok Post
On the last day of the sixth round of Thai-US Free Trade Area talks, several academics and non-governmental bodies were invited to discuss their concerns with US negotiators on aspects of intellectual property rights, with an emphasis on pharmaceutical and life form patents. For a number of reasons, only one academic showed up.