Print
Email
Share
The WTO states that this decision "directly transforms the 30 August 2003 “waiver” into a permanent amendment of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). That waiver made it easier for poorer countries to obtain cheaper generic versions of patented medicines by setting aside a provision of the TRIPS Agreement that could hinder exports of pharmaceuticals manufactured under compulsory licences to countries that are unable to produce them.
This will now be formally built into the TRIPS Agreement when two thirds of the WTO's members have ratified the change. They have set themselves until 1 December 2007 to do this. The waiver remains in force until then."