Acronym for Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights - legalese for, among other things, the desire by some
Trans National Corporations to patent life forms.
One of the reasons
HIV/
AIDS drugs are difficult for
Africans to receive, even though parallel importing is acceptable in the
WTO, is because
Pharmaceutical Corporations are a big proponent of this agreement. Developing countries that rely on local
pharmaceutical production to produce affordable
medicines for their poor consumers stand to lose the most.
HIV/
AIDS medications made by developing countries in
Africa have recently come under attack by
Pharmaceutical Corporations under the
WTO.
This existing agreement, set for expansion, imposes
US patent rules on all
WTO member nations. Several "Life Sciences" Corporations have tried to
patent the
plant and
animal genetic resources that have been used by
indigenous communities for generations. These
Corporations plan to take control of these "biological and ecological commons" and charge the
indigenous communities "fees."