Why It's time to Terminate the TRIPS Agreement

What is it about?

During the COVID pandemic, a battle played out at the World Trade Organization over the temporary waiver of intellectual property rules related to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and technology. That battle created the opportunity for a much needed reconsideration of the nature and effects of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (the ‘TRIPS Agreement’). I argue that the impasse over the temporary waiver of intellectual property rights at the WTO is the symptom of a broader problem with the global regime that the TRIPS Agreement established and suggest that the TRIPS Agreement should be a serious candidate for termination. In doing so, I make the bigger claim that it is time to begin thinking in new ways about the desirability and need for change in and through international law.

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Photo by Etactics Inc on Unsplash

Photo by Etactics Inc on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The article spells out why it is time for states to terminate the TRIPS Agreement and the model of global monopoly rights that it promotes. It argues that the TRIPS Agreement sits uneasily within a regime ostensibly committed to free trade. It was hugely controversial when it was signed, was agreed upon in circumstances that have fundamentally changed, and is seen by many as illegitimate. More broadly, the article suggests that given the challenges that lie ahead in a world being remade by climate change, international lawyers are going to need to welcome and manage change in the law rather than automatically seeing it as a threat.