Intellectual Property, Bilateral Agreements and Sustainable Development: A STRATEGY NOTE

This strategy note by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) examines how intellectual property (IP) provisions in bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) with the United States undermine access to essential medicines. It argues that "TRIPS-plus" provisions dismantle the public health safeguards established by the 2001 Doha Declaration and suggests strategic actions for civil society to shift the global debate from IP protection to health-driven research and development (R&D).

• The United States uses bilateral and regional free trade agreements to implement "TRIPS-plus" provisions that exceed WTO standards, effectively dismantling the public health protections of the 2001 Doha Declaration. These provisions include data exclusivity to delay generic registration, patent term extensions beyond 20 years, and restrictions on the use of compulsory licenses.
• The 2001 Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health affirmed that the TRIPS Agreement should not prevent members from protecting public health and promoting access to medicines. It established that the grounds for issuing compulsory licenses are unlimited and that members are free to determine their own regimes for the exhaustion of intellectual property rights (parallel trade).
• There is a lack of evidence that higher IP protection through the TRIPS Agreement has successfully boosted pharmaceutical R&D for diseases primarily affecting developing countries. Data indicates that between 1975 and 2004, only 1.3% of new chemical entities marketed globally were for tuberculosis and tropical diseases, despite these accounting for 12% of the total disease burden.
• The author recommends that civil society groups take immediate actions to counter US-style FTAs, including briefing Ministers of Health and drug regulatory agencies, raising public awareness in the US, and pressuring the WHO to increase technical assistance at the country level.
• Long-term strategies for civil society include campaigning for a WTO moratorium on regional and bilateral trade agreements that include IP provisions contrary to the Doha Declaration and shifting the global discourse toward a health-needs-driven R&D system rather than an IP-based model.
• International bodies and legal professionals have expressed concern over US trade policies. The World Health Assembly passed resolutions in 2004 and 2006 urging that FTAs respect Doha flexibilities, and the International Law Association's International Trade Law Committee adopted a resolution in June 2006 urging governments to refrain from using bilateral agreements to limit TRIPS flexibilities.

APA

Hoen, E. ‘. (2007). Intellectual Property, Bilateral Agreements and Sustainable Development: A STRATEGY NOTE. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IP_StrategyNote_Apr07.pdf

Chicago

Hoen, Ellen ‘t. Intellectual Property, Bilateral Agreements and Sustainable Development: A STRATEGY NOTE. Center for International Environmental Law, 2007. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IP_StrategyNote_Apr07.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hoen |first1=Ellen ‘t |title=Intellectual Property, Bilateral Agreements and Sustainable Development: A STRATEGY NOTE |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=April 2007 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IP_StrategyNote_Apr07.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hoen2007intellectual, author = {Hoen, Ellen ‘t}, title = {{Intellectual Property, Bilateral Agreements and Sustainable Development: A STRATEGY NOTE}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2007}, month = apr, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IP_StrategyNote_Apr07.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }