Rules of Origin (RoO) describe the local processing requirements necessary for a good to be considered as being of local origin and hence qualify for preferential market access under a given preferential trade agreement…As part of the EPA negotiations, a number of aspects of the RoO were changed; others continue to impose a significant burden on stakeholders engaged in trade between ACP countries and the EU.
Negotiation of MRAs is often a long, complex, costly and time-consuming…A country that wishes to be party to an MRA, first of all, has to meet some basic requirements, such as to have in place a domestic system for regulating the profession at stake, an accreditation system, and a national register of professionals…
Keynote Address, Conference on “Reinventing the Political Economy Tradition of the Caribbean”, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), University of the West Indes, Mona, Jamaica, March 26, 2008.
Dr. Tandon is Executive Director of the South Centre
In this lecture I focus on what may not be common knowledge among young intellectuals…those who come from an earlier tradition know it as the “National Project” – a project that began before countries in the South got their independence from colonial rule, a project that continued for several years after political independence, and then, in the era of globalization, it died a sudden death. It needs to be revived, just as the Caribbean tradition of political economy needs to be reinvented…
Presentation at SALISES Annual Conference, ‘Reinvnting the Poltical Economy Tradition of the Caribbean’, March 23-26, 2008
The Conference theme states that in the Caribbean post-independence period, the research community engaged in the search to find a Caribbean route to development, and to understand the workings of the economic system, then soon to be in the grip of the ideology of the dominant international organizations, the IMF and the WTO, and of the emerging globalization. It then invites consideration of where do we go from here. My answer is that, in the twenty-first century Caribbean political economy, the primary need is to put in place a Democratic System of Governance. For, in the final analysis, it is the quality and strength of governance that determine what takes place in the socio-economic system.…
Memorandum submitted for the consideration of the Reflections Group of the Caricom Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on 27 February 2008. After listing 19 areas of concern in the EPA, the memorandum suggests that there may still be a ´´window of opportunity´´ to re-negotiate the agreement, which has not yet been signed and provisionally applied, and sets out a possible course of action for Caricom. (Revised 23/03/08)
Competition rules are a key part of the EU’s trade promotion strategy as they assist in opening up overseas markets for EU exporters[1]. The European Union has a long history of aggressively pushing for competition rules in international trade negotiations….
Access in Trade Negotiations Insights, July-August 2008, pages 5-6
The EPA agreements introduce binding TRIPS-plus standards in the Caribbean with non-binding commitments for
cooperation in innovation, technology transfer and cultural industry development. Whether the Caribbean will benefit
from the provisions for cooperation in innovation and technology transfer depends on further implementation
arrangements and funding from the Europeans. However, if the European Commission fails in its commitment to
cooperate on innovation, such failure will not be the basis or the Caribbean countries to derogate, withdraw, or change their commitment with respect to IP rights protection..
New Technical Brief from the Commonwealth Secretariat:
Intellectual Property in European Union Economic Partnership Agreements with the African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries: What Way Forward, (April 2008) By Dalindyebo Shabalala*, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Geneva. Download
For much of late 2006 and 2007, the EU attempted to conclude comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the 76 member African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries. The aim was to conclude full and comprehensive agreements by the end of 2007 to meet a WTO deadline for bringing the EU’s preferential trade arrangements for goods with ACP countries in line with the WTO GATT. The only region to conclude a full EPA was the Caribbean region represented by Cariforum. All the ACP regions plan to continue negotiating towards full EPAs, but it remains unclear what the status of intellectual property will be in future negotiations and how the IPR provisions of the EU-Cariforum will influence the negotiation of other EPAs.
This technical brief highlights the main issues in the substantive CIEL paper which was initially prepared for OXFAM. It explores the implications of ACP Countries continuing negotiations for further IPR protection in EPAs by conducting an analysis to determine the exact nature of commitments that the ACP regions have made regarding the basis and scope of future negotiations on IPRs and examining some of the more significant provisions on IPRs in the EU-Cariforum EPA. It concludes with recommendations for future actions that ACP countries can take in their approach to IPRs in future EPA negotiations.
Download IPRs in the EPAs, by Dalindyebo Shabalala
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* Mr. Dalindyebo Shabalala is the Director for the Project on Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Geneva, dshabalala@ciel.org. The views expressed in the technical brief and paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Commonwealth Secretariat or its member governments. |
Important: see also Intellectual Property in the CARIFORUM EPA, by Dianne Daley in the Jamaica Observer.
This Chapter of the draft EPA text covers issues linked with key aspects of socio-economic development of the Cariforum states (CF). Section 1 largely provides for non-binding commitment, declaratory statements, and matters that will be defined during implementation. Section 2 largely establishes binding TRIPS-plus standards that should be implemented by the parties. If Section 1 is assumed to be of interest for CF then what it is getting from the EPA will be largely promises that may face the inherent difficulty of determining their scope and the kind of measures that can be considered as adequate implementation of the commitments. The implementation of Section 2 is straightforward, involving the introduction of domestic laws to implement the section that can be easily verified and assessed….
Important: see also series of articles by Diane Daley in the Jamaica Observer,
Intellectual Property in the CARIFORUM EPA, Part I: Copyright & Related Rights and Industrial Designs,
Part II: Patents, Utility Models and New Plant Varieties
Part III, Trade Marks and Geographical Indications
Series of articles by Diane Daley in the Jamaica Observer
Intellectual Property in the CARIFORUM EPA, Part I: Copyright & Related Rights and Industrial Designs,
