Intellectual property in EU EPAs with the ACP countries: What way forward after the Cariforum EPA and the interim EPAs?
Center for International Environmental Law | 13 May 2008
Intellectual Property in European Union Economic Partnership Agreements with the African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries: What way Forward after the Cariforum EPA and the interim EPAs?
For much of late 2006 and 2007, the EU attempted to conclude
comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the 76 member
African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries. The aim was to
conclude full and comprehensive agreements by the end of 2007 to meet a
WTO deadline for bringing the EU’s preferential trade arrangements for
goods with ACP countries in line with the WTO GATT. The only region to
conclude a full EPA was the Caribbean region represented by Cariforum.
All the ACP regions plan to continue negotiating towards full EPAs, but
it remains unclear what the status of intellectual property will be in
future negotiations and how the IPR provisions of the EU-Cariforum will
influence the negotiation of other EPAs.
This paper explores the implications of ACP Countries continuing
negotiations for further IPR protection in EPAs by: conducting an
analysis to determine the exact nature of commitments that the ACP
regions have made regarding the basis and scope of future negotiations
on IPRs; examining some of the more significant provisions on IPRs in
the EU-Cariforum EPA; and concluding with recommendations for future
actions that ACP countries can take in their approach to IPRs in future
EPA negotiations.
Available at http://www.ciel.org/Publications/Oxfam_TechnicalBrief_5May08.pdf
