Ministerial Declaration on the Travel Agreement and Public Health at the Summit A recent initiative to suspend certain trade-related provisions of the Multilateral Agreement on Intellectual Property has not received the necessary support from the World Trade Organization (WTO). This initiative was initiated by two developing countries, India and South Africa, and referred to the global spread of the deadly coronavirus, or Covid-19. Both countries formally submitted a proposal for consideration to the Council on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in Geneva on 15 and 16 October. The request also asked the Council to recommend to the General Council ”as soon as possible” to derogate from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement. As usual, WTO member states have been sharply divided in this regard, which has not allowed for real progress on the proposed waiver. The least developed countries (LDCs), including Bangladesh, are also disappointed as they have also not received the requested extension of the current 12-year transition period. The general transitional period is an exception or derogation for least developed countries from the application of the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, as these countries are not in a position to fulfil most of the obligations under the Multilateral Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights. A member country has the right to use the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism (MSD) against another Member because a member country violates the provisions of the Agreement. If the period is not extended, Bangladesh will no longer receive incentives from developed countries to promote technology transfer, and it would therefore be costly to ensure compliance with the TRIPS Agreement. Therefore, the government must attach importance to the effectiveness of bilateral and multilateral negotiations so that we have access to preferential markets. The more challenges discussed after the transition, the greater the financial losses of the export sector.
However, if flexibility in the implementation of the provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is removed, the challenges that Bangladesh may face will not be discussed in detail. Currently, Bangladesh benefits from two types of transition periods under the TRIPS Agreement – a general transition period and a special transition period for the pharmaceutical industry. However, in view of the likely difficulties that least developed countries might face in implementing the Agreement, the TRIPS Agreement granted these countries a transitional period of ten years, in accordance with Article 66(1) of the TRIPS Agreement. Reaffirming the General Council Decision of 7 and 8 February 2000 (WT/GC/M/53) that the mandatory review of the TRIPS Agreement should take into account, inter alia, the impact of the Agreement on the trade and development prospects of developing countries; Services / TRIPS / Agreements / Disappearance / Graduation of LDCs The agreement covers a number of areas in the areas of copyright, trademarks, industrial designs, patents and other areas related to the protection of trade-related intellectual property rights (IPRs). In addition, once concluded, Bangladesh must ensure compliance with the requirements of the TRIPS Agreement and other international treaties on intellectual property rights. In doing so, the government will also be required to update existing intellectual property laws or enact new laws, as provided for in the TRIPS Agreement – which are subject to review by the TRIPS Council. The transition period has provided Bangladesh and other least developed countries with much-needed respite to enforce the intellectual property rights disciplines of the TRIPS Agreement. In this context, least developed countries have been exempted from most of the obligations under the Agreement (with the exception of national treatment and most-favoured-nation treatment). In accordance with this requirement, the government should update its Patent Act – the Patent Act of 1911 – as this would contradict the TRIPS Agreement in several ways. The current law provides for patent protection only for 16 years, which is to be increased to 20 years. In addition, provisions should be introduced for patents on pharmaceutical products and processes as well as for patent protection of animal and plant varieties.
What are the possible effects of the TRIPS Flexibility Decision of 29 June 2021 on Bangladesh? 3. Each Member shall have the right to authorize any other use(1) of the subject matter of a patent without the authorization of the right holder, including use by the Government or third parties authorized by the Government, and to determine the reasons why such use is permitted. This has been extended for a second time by eight years, until 1 July 2021. Finally, in the absence of consensus, it was agreed that the flexibility component should be continued in the WTO General Council (WTO-AoM) after the conclusion of the LDC proposal. A contentious part of the proposal is the duration of the derogation period. The request states: ”The waiver should continue until widespread vaccination has taken place worldwide and the majority of the world`s population has developed immunity, so we propose an initial duration of [x] years from the date of adoption of the waiver.” This means that the derogation would last as many years as agreed by the General Council decision and that the Council would review the derogation annually until it is terminated. However, India argued during the session that supporters of the proposal ”do not seek to give up indefinitely.” In particular, developing countries (Tanzania, Chad, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Venezuela, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Egypt, Indonesia, Argentina, Tunisia, Mali, Mauritius and Mozambique) supported the proposal. They also expressed concern that patents, designs, copyrights or the protection of undisclosed information could create barriers to timely access to affordable medical devices to combat Covid-19. .