ISDS Case Map
medicines
Potential BIT claims by foreign pharmaceutical companies against India for the revocation, suspension or non-enforcement of IPRs could undermine the benefits of a potential TRIPS waiver.
The COVID-19 pandemic, and the race to make vaccines and other useful technologies more accessible to people around the world, has once again highlighted the tension between intellectual property rights and the promotion of public health.
They have both emphasised the need for trade talks to mitigate medicine supply chain disruptions following Brexit.
People around the world need to be aware of precedents in recent trade agreements and ensure that they also work for access to medicines for their own citizens.
Vietnam seeks to build on its new free trade agreement with the European Union to expand foreign investment in medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, with the government position the country as an alternative production base to China.
India is seeking concessions for generic drugs it exports to the United States in return for opening its dairy markets and slashing tariffs on farm goods as the two sides seek to shore up a new trade deal.
The union and its allies also asked the government not to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as they view that the restriction of rights to access medicine under the deal would put the country’s public health system in danger.
The US trade model is not only unpopular with the British public, but it will also make us more vulnerable to future pandemics.
In order to halt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) and to boost the public health care system and preparedness, India has taken several regulatory steps.
