Research Paper 47, May 2013

The topic of intellectual property first appeared in the WHO in 1996 and coincided with the end of the Uruguay Round and the creation of the World Trade Organization. In 1995 the Charles III University of Madrid with the WHO Drugs Action Programme (DAP) organized a conference where Professor Carlos Correa presented a paper entitled “The Uruguay Round and Drugs”. The 40 page article analyzes the possible implications of the WTO Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on access to medicines and discloses the “room to manoeuvre” that the Agreement has to protect Public Health. This article, “The Uruguay Round and Drugs”, was the first document that specifically alerted the health sector of the possible implications of the TRIPS Agreement on public health and in particular, on access to medicines.

Analytical Note, April 2013

This paper provides a write up on the context and history of the Annex C 28 Special and Differential Treatment (S&D) proposals, as well as a discussion on the negotiations and way forward ahead of the WTO’s Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali (MC9). It also analyses each of the 28 proposals in the Cancun Annex C text.  It also includes a matrix that provides :

Initiative for Policy Dialogue and the South Centre Working Paper, March 2013

Analytical Note, March 2013

This note provides an overview of the EPA negotiations. It illustrates the fact that the same critical contentious issues persist in the EPAs across various regional blocs. It also highlights the concerns of the highest political authorities of ACP States regarding the EPAs and the inherent dangers for regional integration, industrialization, and the development of ACP States. Activity is likely to increase further given the high probability that Europe will remove countries from being recipients of EU preferences provided under the EC market access regulation 1528/2007 if they have not signed or ratified their EPA by 1 October 2014.

The latest South Bulletin provides an analysis of the Climate Conference of the UNFCCC (held in Doha in November - December 2012). The conference had low ambition in terms of emission reduction and finance for developing countries. But progress was made on “loss and damage” resulting from the effects of climate change, in the adaptation agenda.

Climate Policy Brief, February 2013

The annual United Nations climate conference held in 2012 in Doha concluded on 8 December with low levels of commitments by the developed countries in two crucial areas -- emission cuts by them, and provision of climate financing for developing countries.