Undermining Access to Medicines
Published: June 2004
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Publication Summary
The US government is using bilateral and regional free-trade agreements (FTAs) to impose unnecessarily stringent intellectual property standards on developing countries that go beyond World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. These new higher standards favor the short-term commercial interests of US pharmaceutical companies, at the expense of public health in developing countries.
Oxfam has analyzed a selection of key US FTAs: The provisions in these agreements go far beyond the obligations required by the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The new "TRIPS-plus" obligations in the FTAs close off the public health safeguards available to WTO members under TRIPs and will restrict access to affordable medicines in developing countries.