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Embracing Price Discrimination: Trips And The Suppression Of Parallel Trade In Pharmaceuticals, Hans Henrik Lidgard, Jeffery Atik

Hans Henrik Lidgard

In December 2005, the WTO responded to the HIV/AIDS pharmaceutical crisis in the least developed world by voting to make the first permanent amendment to the WTO Agreements since their original negotiation during the Uruguay Round. New Article 31bis will amend the TRIPS Agreement to permit compulsory manufacturing licenses in order to facilitate supply of needed pharmaceuticals to those countries lacking the technological capacity to produce these drugs themselves. The amendment reflects a substantial shift in the essential TRIPS bargain, constituting a significant give-back to those developing countries that specialize in the generic production of pharmaceuticals. To date, however, there …