[Ip-health] Resolution of the International Law Association on Trade Agreements and Public Health

[Abbott, Frederick]

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A contributor to this list noted last week that the International Law
Association (ILA) at its 72nd Biennial Conference in Toronto adopted (on
June 8, 2006) a resolution supporting the maintenance of TRIPS Agreement
flexibilities for the protection of public health.

This resolution no. 3/2006 (set out below, as adopted) was proposed to
the ILA by its Committee on International Trade Law further to adoption
of the Committee's 2006 Report at the Toronto Biennial. The Committee on
International Trade Law is composed of experts from around the world
(including individuals who have served in important positions at the WTO
and the European Commission, who are members of national Supreme Courts,
who have served as senior trade negotiators and so forth). The Committee
on International Trade Law adopted and proposed this resolution to the
ILA by consensus.

"RESOLUTION No. 3/2006

INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW COMMITTEE

The 72nd Conference of the International Law Association, held in
Toronto, Canada, 4-8 June 2006:

TAKING NOTE of the Report of the Committee on International Trade Law
approved at the Committee's June 5, 2006 plenary session at the Toronto
2006 Biennial Meeting, and particularly paragraphs 13 and 18 of that
Report;

RECALLING that the Report addresses the use by some governments of
bilateral and regional trade negotiating forums to limit or eliminate
flexibilities in the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) that are recognized in
the WTO Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health of
November 14, 2001 to support the protection of public health and
promotion of access to medicines for all;

OBSERVING that the 2005 Report by the Consultative Board to the
Director-General of the WTO (the "Sutherland Report") expressed serious
concern over the pursuit by some WTO Member countries of commitments in
regional and bilateral agreements that could not be secured through
multilateral negotiations;

RECOGNIZING that limitation or elimination of TRIPS flexibilities that
facilitate the introduction of medicines onto national markets may have
adverse consequences for less affluent parts of the population and that
governments should exercise caution in adopting trade-related measures
that may disproportionately affect more vulnerable individuals;

RECOGNIZING that all countries and peoples are susceptible to disease
burdens, including but not limited to epidemic disease burdens, that may
require facilitated access to medicines, and that the limitation or
elimination of TRIPS flexibilities supporting access to medicines may
affect all countries and peoples;

Upon the recommendation of the Committee on International Trade Law, as
provided for in paragraphs 13 and 18 of its 2006 Report:

The International Law Association hereby resolves that:

Governments are urged to refrain from using bilateral and regional trade
negotiations and agreements to limit or eliminate flexibilities in the
WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
which are recognized in the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and
Public Health to support the protection of public health and to promote
access to medicines for all."


Frederick M. Abbott, Rapporteur for the ILA Committee on International
Trade Law and
Edward Ball Eminent Scholar
  Professor of International Law
Florida State University College of Law
425 W. Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, FL USA 32306
tel. +1-850-644-1572
Internet fax mailbox +1-917-591-3112