Amendment to TRIPS

Pharmaceutical patent flexibility for developing countries

At a General Council meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), an amendment was agreed to the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

The amendment allows governments of developing nations to initiate manufacture of patent-protected pharmaceuticals without obtaining consent from the patent proprietor.

The amendment is designed to make it easier for poorer countries to obtain generic versions of pharmaceuticals when there is an imminent outbreak of an infectious disease.

The amendment (Article 31bis) is in three parts, the first of which allows pharmaceutical products to be made under compulsory licences and exported to countries lacking productions capacity.

Director-General, Pascal Lamy, is reported to have said:

“The agreement to amend the TRIPS provisions confirms once again that members are determined to ensure the WTO’s trading system contributes to humanitarian and development goals as they prepare for the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.”

“This is of particular personal satisfaction to me, since I have been involved for years in working to ensure that the TRIPS Agreement is part of the solution to the question of ensuring the poor have access to medicines.”