Emerging Trends in FTAs and Public Health: Are the EU, USA, and China shifting positions?
Thursday, 7 October 2021
16:00 – 17:30 CET
The South Centre is holding a series of webinars on emerging trends related to free trade agreements (FTAs) and investment agreements that impact public health. The goal is to generate awareness, share experiences and expand knowledge for academics, policymakers and negotiators in ongoing and/or future negotiations. After our first webinar focused on investment treaties and IP, we this webinar examines the EU, USA, and China’s recent experiences.
Working Session at the WTO Public Forum 2021: The Future of the TRIPS Agreement Post COVID-19
Wednesday, 29 September 2021
16h30 –17h30 CET
Disciplines on intellectual property protection are part of the multilateral trade system through the WTO TRIPS Agreement. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to bear again the tension between the protection of intellectual property rights and public health, which had been addressed in 2001 through the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public health. Having in view the TRIPS flexibilities, this session will discuss the role of interpretation, temporary waivers and amendments in dealing with such tension and what further actions could be taken under the WTO rules in order to promote access to medical products for all.
Ensuring a Sustainable and Resilient Response to COVID-19 and Emerging Infectious Diseases through Local Production
United Nations High-Level Political Forum 2021 Side Event
Organized by South Centre, ReAct – Action on Antibiotic Resistance and Innovation + Design Enabling Access at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Build Your House on Your Own Pillars – Key Issues for Developing Countries at the OECD Inclusive Framework Negotiations on the Taxation of the Digital Economy
Emerging Trends in FTAs and Public Health: Investment Agreements and Intellectual Property
Friday, 28 May 2021 – 16:00-17:30 (CET)
The inclusion of TRIPS-Plus provisions in developing country IP laws, as a result of negotiations of free trade agreements (FTAs) continues to be of concern. In addition, there are various emerging areas that require attention from developing countries, where accumulated knowledge and institutional learning are more limited. These include investment agreements that include ‘intellectual property’ as a category of investment – with subsequent ISDS mechanisms, as well as competition and investment chapters or agreements that may restrict the policy space, such as the China-EU Comprehensive Investment Agreement. There are several important developments to consider for the upcoming years. New negotiations in the period of Covid-19 crisis, when countries are in dire financial situations, may lead to even more unbalanced negotiations. The UK is pursuing new agreements after Brexit with developing countries, while the USA has signaled renewed attention to multilateralism and at the same time is continuing to make use of Section 301 of its trade law to advance reforms in third countries. The AfCFTA negotiations of the intellectual property chapter are set to start this year. Moreover, the RCEP Agreement is to be implemented via national law amendments and attention must be given in particular to the process for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the technical assistance offered.
In this context, the South Centre is holding a series of webinars on emerging trends related to free trade agreements (FTAs) and investment agreements that impact public health. In this first session, we will discuss the topic of investment agreements and intellectual property, including varied angles to the issue, such as perspectives for post Covid-19 agreements, the legal construction of IP as a category of investment, the challenges of ISDS and policy reform options, and the analysis of a concrete case.
Este espacio es organizado por el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Bolivia, en coordinación con el South Centre y el PNUD Bolivia. El Foro es un espacio de intercambio de información técnica y debate de opciones de política pública al alcance de los países en desarrollo. Incluirá la participación de panelistas internacionales, tanto de organismos internacionales, sociedad civil y representantes de países.
Jueves, 13 de mayo de 2021, 09:00-10:45 (Bolivia) / 15:00-16:45 (Geneva)
Not Charity, But Rights: Universal and Equitable Access to Covid-19 Vaccines
Session at the Second United Nations South Asia Forum on Business and Human Rights organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, South Centre, and Human Rights Watch
The South Centre is celebrating its 25th Anniversary in the year 2020. The Centre was established by an Intergovernmental Agreement which came into force on 31 July 1995. Its predecessor, the South Commission, recognized the need to strengthen South-South cooperation in international affairs. In its report The Challenge to the South, the South Commission emphasized the need for countries of the South to work together at the global level. That is why the Commission recommended the creation of a South organization charged with undertaking this challenge. The South Centre, an independent intergovernmental think-tank of developing countries, was then created to analyze the development problems of the developing countries, encourage them to value and share their common experience and provide intellectual and policy support for them to act collectively and individually, particularly at the international level.
