Based on the concept of preferential treatment for LDCs, several efforts have been made to focus development assistance and implement innovative methods to improve their particular economic status. While the natures of these efforts, endorsed by international organisations, NGOs, and international funds vary, we would like to highlight an interesting initiative that may serve as an example of new approaches to using trade to foster development through their intrinsic connection.
Everything But Arms is a European Union initiative that was enacted in March of 2001 eliminating duties and quotas on all imports from LDCs, with the exception of armaments. This initiative possessed transitional arrangements for certain agricultural commodities that expired in 2006 and 2009. To the end of encouraging LDCs’ development, this initiative is based on the premise that decreasing barriers of entry for LDCs’ commodities into the EU will lead to enhanced export earnings and encourage economic diversification. This initiative has been supported by several countries in the G20, and they encourage an extension to other countries.
This initiative, however, has faced criticism from other member states that the initiative could give rise to a predatory business environment. Examples of this are found in cases where foreign corporations acquire local businesses within LDCs and manipulate local economies to acquire control over whole industries within a state and cause undesired economic outcomes and disenfranchise the local population. As South Africa has identified, this has been known to occur particularly within the mining industry. We commit to study this initiative and its potential for further application in developed nations.
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights We confirm the importance of differentiating between the general framework of TRIPs and the specific case for pharmaceuticals. There is a need for the enhancement of the current legal framework of TRIPs in order to account for advances in innovation. ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Patents We emphasise the economic rationale behind patents and the difference between ‘good patents’ that provide incentives for innovation and ‘bad patents,’ which come at a social cost. We propose the following extensions to the current treaty: 1. The inclusion of open-source licenses under an international legal framework to account for new innovation phenomena and collaboration in general; 2. A transparent and accountable examination procedure to distinguish more effectively and efficiently ‘bad’ from ‘good’ patents;
03.06.2011
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