Law Commons^™

Facilitating Access To Cross-Border Supplies Of Patented Pharmaceuticals: The Case Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Frederick M. Abbott

Scholarly Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into stark relief the gaps in global preparedness to address widespread outbreaks of deadly viral infections. This article proposes legal mechanisms for addressing critical issues facing the international community in terms of providing equitable access to vaccines, treatments, diagnostics, and medical equipment. On the supply side, the authors propose the establishment of mandatory patent pools ('Licensing Facilities') on a global or regional, or even national basis, depending upon the degree of cooperation that maybe achieved. The authors also discuss the importance of creating shared production facilities. On the demand side, the authors propose the establishment …

Covid-19 And South-South Trade & Investment Cooperation: Three Emerging Narratives, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe, Clair Gammage

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the frailties of economic relations across different aspects of the globalized network. From the national, through the sub-regional, to the regional to the international levels, questions have arisen regarding the seemingly interconnected, yet fractured socio-economic relationships in our modern societies. In this essay we shall focus on the trade and investment dimension of South-South relations that have been affected by the pandemic. In doing so, we shall reveal the (often overlooked or taken for granted) linkages with race in South-South relations. We identify the way(s) in which the Covid-19 pandemic has made obvious the latent …

Taming America's Sugar Rush: A Traffic-Light Label Approach, Alexia Brunet Marks

Publications

Excess added sugar negatively impacts health and can lead to a litany of problems, such as diet-related chronic diseases, e.g., diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and obesity, costing Americans millions in rising medical bills each year. Even more, new studies reveal that individuals with these underlying chronic diseases are at a higher risk of complications from COVID-19 and other viruses compared to those who are deemed healthy. And yet added sugars are difficult to avoid because unlike naturally occurring sugars found in fruits, vegetables, and milk, these sweeteners are added during food processing and preparation.

The problem is that while consumers …

Covid-19 And South-South Trade & Investment Cooperation: Three Emerging Narratives, Clair Gammage, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the frailties of economic relations across different aspects of the globalized network. From the national, through the sub-regional, to the regional to the international levels, questions have arisen regarding the seemingly interconnected, yet fractured socio-economic relationships in our modern societies. In this essay we shall focus on the trade and investment dimension of South-South relations that have been affected by the pandemic. In doing so, we shall reveal the (often overlooked or taken for granted) linkages with race in South-South relations. We identify the way(s) in which the Covid-19 pandemic has made obvious the latent …

Doing Development Differently: Reorienting Sino-African Trade And Investment Relations After The Pandemic, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe, Clair Gammage

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This article explores the evolutive nature of Sino-African relations and questions how Chinese interventions may influence Africa’s development stories in a post-Covid world. We examine whether the crisis could serve as a catalyst for reorienting the strategic partnership between China and Africa away from debt diplomacy towards genuine partnership or a breaking apart of the long-standing relationship. This article presents three narratives to illustrate how the future direction of Sino-African relations may change and how this might enable Africa to ‘do development differently’.

The Perils Of Pandemic Exceptionalism, Julian Arato, Kathleen Claussen, J. Benton Heath

Articles

In response to the pandemic, most states have enacted special measures to protect national economies and public health. Many of these measures would likely violate trade and investment disciplines unless they qualify for one of several exceptions. This Essay examines the structural implications of widespread anticipated defenses premised on the idea of “exceptionalism.” It argues that the pandemic reveals the structural weakness of the exceptions-oriented paradigm of justification in international economic law.