In Focus

Side Event, 1 December 2014

South Centre-TWN Side Event at the UN Climate Conference in Lima: Perspectives on the 2015 Paris deal: Options on the road from Lima to Paris

Speakers from developing countries will give insights on the critical markers from Lima to Paris in order to secure an equitable and just climate agreement at the South Centre-TWN side event in Lima, Peru.

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Research Paper 57, November 2014

Globalization, Export-Led Growth and Inequality: The East Asian Story

Over the last three decades, several East Asian economies have grown by leaps and bounds. The success of their export-led growth model is regarded, and copied, by many emerging economies as a sure path to achieve high-income status. But with impressive growth came worsening inequality both in personal income and functional income distribution. (more…)

Research Paper 56, November 2014

The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) Protocol on Patents: Implications for Access to Medicines

This paper was commissioned to better understand the workings of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (commonly known as “ARIPO”) with regard to its Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs and to examine the effect of implementation of the Protocol (Section on Patents) on the promotion of access to affordable medicines. (more…)

Statement, 3-5 November 2014

South Centre Statement at 2nd UN Conference on LLDCs

The attached is a Statement by the South Centre at Second UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries. (more…)

Research Paper 55, November 2014

Patent Protection for Plants: Legal Options for Developing Countries

The paper examines, first, the exclusion of patent protection for plants, including plant varieties, biological materials, and essentially biological processes for the production of plants. The legal implications of the right – recognized under the TRIPS Agreement – to exclude plants from patent protection are briefly discussed, as well as how the exclusion allowed by article 27.3(b) of said Agreement has been implemented at the national level and, particularly, whether it can be extended to parts and components of plants. (more…)

Statement, 13-17 October 2014

South Centre Statement on Coming into Force of Nagoya Protocol

The following is a Statement by the South Centre on the coming into force of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. (more…)

Statement, 31 October 2014

South Centre Views on US Review of Indian IPR Policy

Below is the official submission of the South Centre sent to the US Trade Representative regarding the Super 301 out of cycle review that the USTR is undertaking with regard to the IPR policy and practice of India. In this submission the South Centre has expressed concern about the pressures that the US is exerting on India to change its IPR policy and laws. (more…)

South Bulletin 82, 10 October 2014

When medicines no longer work

Millions of people die each year because antibiotics are increasingly unable to cure many diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, influenza and severe stomach ailments. Antibiotic resistance has reached crisis proportions worldwide. (more…)

Research Paper 54, September 2014

Innovative Financing Mechanisms: Potential Sources of Financing the WHO Tobacco Convention

  1. Introduction and Objectives

This research paper is produced as part of a research being conducted by the South Centre on expanding fiscal policies for global and national tobacco control. The objective of this research is to identify innovative solutions to fill the funding gaps in the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). (more…)

Research Paper 53, September 2014

Regional Pooled Procurement of Medicines in the East African Community

This paper explores the current discussions in the East African Community (EAC) with regard to the establishment of a regional pooled procurement mechanism for essential medicines. (more…)

Research Paper 52, August 2014

Tackling the Proliferation of Patents: How to Avoid Undue Limitations to Competition and the Public Domain

The steady increase in patent applications and grants that is taking place in developed and some developing countries (notably in China) is sometimes hailed as evidence of the strength of global innovation and of the role of the patent system in encouraging it. However, such an increase does not correspond to a genuine augmentation in innovation. (more…)

South Bulletin 81, 25 July 2014

G77 celebrates 50th anniversary

This is a special issue of the South Bulletin. It provides many reports on the celebrations held by the Group of 77 and China to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Group’s founding in 1964. (more…)