This issue of South Bulletin focuses on recent developments and controversies in the intellectual property rights area.  We hope it will be timely because the WIPO General Assemblies will take place in Geneva starting on 22 September.

The legitimacy and usefulness of the IP system depends on the correct balance between the public interest and the private privilege given to the IP holders as an incentive for innovation.

This balance has been disrupted by a one-size-fits-all global regime in the TRIPS agreement.  Yet TRIPS has some flexibilities that can be used to limit the damage that an inappropriate IP system can generate.

This issue focuses on a new and dangerous trend – the rise of trade and technology protectionism, in the name of climate change. New laws pending in the United States Congress contain trade measures linked to emissions that cause climate change, that are targeted at imports coming from developing countries. The laws also hinder technology transfer to developing countries as they prevent the relaxation of intellectual property rules. The new climate protectionism is causing controversy at the UN’s climate talks, and is also likely to be taken up at the WTO. The South Bulletin has 6 articles on this issue, explaining how the US laws work and their effects on developing countries, as well as reporting on how the developing countries took up the issue in the recent climate talks in Bonn.

The latest South Bulletin (dated 10 August 2009) is a special issue that reports on the Summit meeting of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) held in Sharm El Sheik in Egypt on 15-16 July.

The NAM Summit is held once in three years.  It was attended by over 100 countries and by many heads of state and government. The Summit reaffirmed that the Movement is still as relevant today, as the developing countries are still battling hegemony and the might of big powers while struggling to get fair representation in decision-making in an inequitable world. The Bulletin reports on what happened at the Summit, on the Declaration and Final Document constituting the NAM's positions and action plans, and a Declaration on Palestinian issue. It also provides extracts of what the political leaders said, and the speech of the Chairman of the South Centre.

The new South Bulletin is a special edition focusing on the outcome of the UN Conference on the Financial Crisis held on 24-26 June.

It was an important conference.  The UN members adopted a consensus document with a lot of significant substance in it, on a range of complex issues relating to the economic crisis and the international financial system, and with many points pointing to the direction and content of actions, was an accomplishment in itself.

The Bulletin contains many important articles and documents that we hope will provide our readers with a good idea of what happened at the Conference, and the significance of its outcome.

In addition to the whole issue, articles in the Bulletin are available for separately downloading: