Anti Counterfeit Agreement

The strict enforcement of intellectual property laws under TRIPS over the member countries
poses some difficult issues for the developing countries. Most of the developing countries
depend upon the generic versions of the life saving drugs which may become inaccessible to
them once the strict clauses in ACTA are brought into operation. The question of protecting
the intellectual property rights is obviously a very contentious one. No one can deny that
intellectual property rights of the innovators of the medicines and in other fields need to be
preserved under international trade. But all the regulatory compliances under the TRIPS have
to be understood in the light of “medicines for all” declaration of WTO. The concept of
protection of intellectual property rights cannot be used to deny the medicines to the people
for whom use they are invented and who for some reason are not able to afford them. Since
the above declaration was made in the Doha round of talks in 2001 the developed countries
are seen lobbying from pillar to post to dilute the effect of the declaration and protect the
interests of the multinational corporations who make these life saving drugs. The IPR issues
though are a part of a larger debate that to what extent they could be diluted in case of
epidemics and the battle against deadly diseases. Unless the economies of the developing
countries do not become technologically and financially advanced enough, they will continue
to need certain concessions on the IPR front(especially in case of generic medicines).