THE WHO & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN BILATERAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS

The document asserts that the World Health Organization (WHO) has a mandate to evaluate how intellectual property provisions in bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) impact public health. It warns that these agreements, often between industrialized economies and developing nations, frequently impose 'TRIPS-plus' standards that restrict access to affordable medicines and undermine the 2005 Amendment to the TRIPS Agreement and the Doha Declaration. The author contends that the WHO should be extensively consulted on these provisions to ensure that health outcomes remain a priority in trade policy.

• Bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) are creating policies that threaten to reverse the progress of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health by limiting the ability of countries to access low-cost medicines and use TRIPS flexibilities.
• Industrialized nations use FTAs to secure intellectual property protections that exceed TRIPS requirements, specifically targeting stronger patent protection for pharmaceutical products, processes, biotechnological products, and animals.
• US free trade agreements include specific provisions that restrict the application of the Doha Declaration, such as bans on parallel importation, longer patent terms, exclusivity of test data, and restrictions on compulsory licensing.
• The proliferation of restrictive IP provisions in FTAs threatens the viability of the 2005 Amendment to TRIPS; if a few middle-income countries with pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity adopt these terms, the amendment's ability to facilitate pharmaceutical exports to developing countries could be nullified.
• Despite calls for the WHO to defer to the WTO on trade matters, the document argues the WHO is the pre-eminent authority for health and regulatory standards and should be consulted before FTA pharmaceutical regulatory standards are adopted.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). THE WHO & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN BILATERAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WHO_Submission_27Nov06.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. THE WHO & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN BILATERAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WHO_Submission_27Nov06.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=THE WHO & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN BILATERAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WHO_Submission_27Nov06.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndwho, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{THE WHO \& INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN BILATERAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WHO_Submission_27Nov06.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }