ip_ftaa_oct03-ef406ace35b142f9.pdf

The document examines how the draft FTAA IPR Chapter imposes standards exceeding the WTO's TRIPS Agreement, potentially hindering public health, food security, and technological development in the Americas by restricting compulsory licensing and expanding patent scopes.

• The draft Chapter on IPRs in the FTAA establishes 'TRIPS-plus' standards that exceed the minimum requirements of the TRIPS Agreement, reducing the policy space available for countries to address societal needs.
• The FTAA draft restricts the use of compulsory licenses, limiting them to public, non-commercial purposes and declared national emergencies, which contradicts the broader flexibility affirmed by the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health.
• The draft agreement threatens access to essential medicines for countries without pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity by prohibiting the export of products produced under compulsory licenses to parties other than the government.
• The FTAA draft expands patentability to include biological materials derived from patented products or processes, which may undermine exceptions for plants and animals and threaten food security and seed self-sufficiency.
• The draft agreement mandates the adoption of the principle of regional exhaustion within five years of entry into force, removing a national policy flexibility previously left to individual countries under the TRIPS Agreement.
• While the FTAA includes provisions for the protection of genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and folklore requested by developing countries, these sections remain in brackets and lack consensus.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). ip_ftaa_oct03-ef406ace35b142f9.pdf. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IP_FTAA_Oct03.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. ip_ftaa_oct03-ef406ace35b142f9.pdf. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IP_FTAA_Oct03.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=ip_ftaa_oct03-ef406ace35b142f9.pdf |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IP_FTAA_Oct03.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndipftaaoct03ef406ace35b142f9pdf, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{ip\_ftaa\_oct03-ef406ace35b142f9.pdf}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IP_FTAA_Oct03.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }