Despite the deep irony of free trade agreements being subverted to codify and extend anti-competitive monopoly rights the joining of enhanced intellectual property rights (IPRs) and strengthened investor rights is creating a wild-west opportunity for unbounded corporate power.
Most free trade agreements signed by the United States, the European Union and the members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) contain chapters on intellectual property rights that expand the rights recognized to pharmaceutical companies.
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that US pressure for India to change its intellectual property policies could result in millions of people around the world losing their lifeline of affordable medicines.
The top members of US Congress and the Senate responsible for international trade issues urged the Obama administration to push for changes to India’s handling of intellectual property rights and technology
The Whanganui District Health Board has acknowledged a letter sent to Dr Chris Cresswell expressing concerns over his views on the Trans-Pacific Partnership was "inappropriate", the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says.
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is meant to be one definition of insanity. It’s also a pretty good definition of poor policymaking.
If Thailand accepts the intellectual property law in the course of the negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement of EU-Thai, this will have several impacts on farmers, biodiversity and food security.
While RCEP was initially framed as an agreement that would be more flexible for low and middle income countries, there is evidence that some governments from industrialised countries are seeking to pursue aspects which would be very damaging for developing countries.