At the bilateral and regional
levels, the number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) is rapidly
increasing. In many cases, these accords include comprehensive
chapters on intellectual property (IP) that go beyond the WTO
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS). These so-called TRIPS-plus provisions question
the use of flexibilities and exceptions for safeguarding certain
public interests. In the field of health, these provisions could
negatively affect the supply of pharmaceutical products and
ultimately the price and availability of medicines, particularly
in developing countries. Nevertheless, developing countries
are often willing to commit to stronger intellectual property
rules as a quid pro quo for concessions in other areas-most
notably, preferential access to developed countries' markets
for agricultural and manufactured products. Whether or not this
bargain holds up is an empirical question.
However, it would appear that the acceptance
of FTAs has often been determined by ad-hoc assessments of perceived
benefits and costs, as well as by broader political considerations,
rather than on the basis of empirical assessment. These types
of cost-benefit analyses have a tendency to overlook the actual
impact of the TRIPS Agreement and the potential impact of new
TRIPS-plus provisions, such as on public health.
To facilitate understanding of the impact of
the new IP provisions in FTAs, ICTSD, the World Health Organisation
(WHO), and the World Bank Institute (WBI) have undertaken a
joint project to develop a common methodological framework for
conducting national impact assessments of TRIPS-plus standards,
as they affect pharmaceutical products. The objective is to
offer guidance to governments (e.g., trade and health ministries),
research institutes as well as civil society organizations,
in empirically evaluating the effects of these new IP obligations.
To date, the Project has developed a partial
equilibrium model for conducting the impact assessments. It
plans to test the model in the Dominican Republic, which will
serve two related objectives. First, the research will ultimately
assess the impact of TRIPS-plus standards for the Dominican
Republic pharmaceutical market. Second, the research will inform
the development of the ICTSD-WHO-WBI methodological guide. In
particular, the researchers in the Dominican Republic will provide
feedback to the core project team on data availability, difficulties
in implementing the model, and evidence on structural parameters
to be applied in the models. For more information on the project,
please visit the
website here.
In this context, ICTSD has organised a workshop
in the Dominican Republic on the partial equilibrium model.
To this end, it will:
- Present the project to researchers, government
officials, and other stakeholders;
- Describe the international IP system and
measures affecting drug prices;
- Discuss data requirements and availability
in the Dominican Republic; and
- Provide training on the use of the model.
