![WTO Extends Measures for LDCs to Access Knowledge, But Why not Go the Whole Way? Viewpoint by Teresa Hackett The writer is Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager at Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL). She oversees the development and delivery of a unique, copyright service for libraries in developing and transition countries, providing specialist resources in multiple languages, and individual assistance on legislative issues. VILNIUS, Lithuania (IDN) — When members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently agreed to extend the transition period by which Least Developed Countries (LDCs) must apply WTO rules on intellectual property, it was a welcome decision. However, it fell short of what LDCs had requested, and left open the wider issue of the need for special and differential treatment after a country graduates from LDC status, especially relevant given the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), adopted in 1995, is the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property (IP). It brought together seven different aspects of IP including copyright and related rights, trademarks, geographical indications and patents. And it broke new ground by establishing a mechanism for the multilateral enforcement of IP rights (where a country can bring a case to the WTO if they believe another country is in violation of trade rules). Like other WTO agreements, TRIPS applies to all WTO Members who are obliged to comply with certain mandatory standards of IP protection and enforcement. However, in recognition of “the special needs and requirements of least-developed country Members, their economic, financial and administrative constraints, and their need for flexibility to create a viable technological base”, Article 66.1 permits LDCs to delay implementation of the substantive rules on IP, including copyright. The current general transition period had been due to expire on 1 July 2021. (A separate, special transition period for pharmaceutical products runs until 2033). In October 2020, Chad, on behalf of the WTO LDC Group, duly made a request for a further extension of the general transition (there were two previous extensions in 2005 and 2013). Specifically, Chad called on Members to extend the transition period for LDCs as long as a country remains an LDC, and for an additional period of 12 years after a country graduates to developing country status. Policy space – for 13 years The global library community welcomed the decision by the TRIPS Council on 29 June 2021 to extend the transition period for LDCs for a further 13 years to 1 July 2034. However, there was no consensus on the request to allow the transition to run for as long as a country remains an LDC. But why not? LDCs represent one of the most vulnerable segments of the international community, and the need for special measures to address the socio-economic circumstances of LDCs will always be important. Article 66.1 essentially acknowledges this fact. LDCs are characterized by constraints such as low per capita income, a low research and industrial base and weak education systems, and they lag far behind in expenditure on science, technology and innovation. They are highly vulnerable to social, economic and environmental shocks resulting from climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges, threatening to undo progress made by LDCs over recent decades towards sustainable development. In fact, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that global human development, as the combined measure of the world’s education, health and living standards, is on course to decline for the first time in 30 years. It is also estimated that the number of people living in extreme poverty could increase by nearly 130 million by 2030. Now and for years to come, LDCs need maximum policy space to access technologies and educational resources needed to support research and development - the request by Chad notes that most IP-protected commodities are priced well beyond the purchasing power of least developed countries. Supporting national priorities requires long-term planning These issues matter to libraries and the people who rely on them. Libraries are a core part of the education, research, and cultural infrastructure in any country. A viable technological and industrial base requires a strong R&D sector, which in turn is created and fostered by a quality education system. All rely on access to up-to-date, global information resources and learning support services that are typically provided by academic, research and public libraries. Maximum ‘policy space’ in the copyright context enables governments to freely craft exceptions to use copyright-protected content in support of key national priorities on education, literacy, research and innovation without fear of sanction or breaking trade rules. For example, to fully facilitate classroom use and online education, support cutting-edge research, and enable the use of digital tools, such as text and data mining (TDM) for medical and scientific discovery. Short extensions of the transition period, that require LDCs to make repeated requests every decade or so, do not facilitate long-term planning nor take into account the huge strides that must be made to build effective capacity in science, technology and innovation. The international trade community should agree, for once and for all, to a permanent extension for as long as a country remains an LDC. Enabling a smooth transition—a contested matter The other issue upon which Members of the TRIPS Council could not agree was the request to extend the transition for an additional 12 years after a country graduates from LDC to developing country status. (Currently, 12 countries are scheduled for graduation). The problem is that after leaving the LDC category, countries lose access to special support measures and flexibilities, such as enhanced technical assistance, preferential market access, and special and differential treatment provisions in WTO rules, such as TRIPS Article 66.1. The abrupt cessation of such supports can be highly disruptive. Measures to cushion the process would act as an incentive for a country to graduate, enable a smooth adjustment to their new developing country status, and avoid the risk of falling back into the LDC category, especially high as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The UN Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development has warned of “a lost decade for development – one most pronounced in the Least Developed Countries”. Since Members of the TRIPS Council failed to agree on this issue, it will be taken forward at the General Council, the WTO’s highest-level decision-making body. Next steps at WTO’s General Council A major conference, setting out an ambitious new 10-year programme of action for LDCs, will take place in Doha in January 2022. Now is a critical time for the WTO to align with efforts to support the LDCs as the final decade of action for the 2030 agenda gathers pace. In December 2020, the LDC Group had presented a parallel proposal to the General Council on post-graduation measures that would apply to all WTO agreements (not only TRIPS). They also presented the text of a draft decision for the Ministerial Conference (MC12) that will take place in Geneva from 30 November to 3 December 2021. The General Council did not make any decision at its December 2020 meeting. The EU and US requested clarifications on the proposal, and consultations are ongoing. Let’s hope that the issue of post-graduation measures can be agreed upon in the interests of common sense, mutual benefit and global solidarity. [IDN-InDepthNews – 19 October 2021] Collage of pictures of Teresa Hackett, EIFL-logo and WTO-logo, Source: EIFL](/images/teres_eifl_wto.jpg)
Viewpoint by Teresa Hackett
The writer is Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager at Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL). She oversees the development and delivery of a unique, copyright service for libraries in developing and transition countries, providing specialist resources in multiple languages, and individual assistance on legislative issues.
VILNIUS, Lithuania (IDN) — When members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently agreed to extend the transition period by which Least Developed Countries (LDCs) must apply WTO rules on intellectual property, it was a welcome decision.
![We Are in a Global State of Emergency on Extreme Poverty Viewpoint by Shameran Abed The writer is Executive Director, BRAC International. Originally founded in 1972 as the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee and later known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, BRAC’s operations have grown globally and with that growth, the organization is now simply known as BRAC. DHAKA (IDN) — It is time we start treating extreme poverty as the global emergency it is. This International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, October 17, we are looking at 100 million more people being forced into extreme poverty by the end of 2021 as a result of COVID-19, joining nearly 700 million people who were living in extreme poverty before the pandemic struck. This increase is likely to be most significant in low-income countries, where poverty is projected to increase at a faster rate than before the pandemic. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide have limited access to income, food, clean water, healthcare, and employment, yet extreme poverty does not receive the attention or resources that other humanitarian crises do from the international community. Extreme poverty is more than a lack of income - it is inextricably linked to and exacerbated by ongoing disasters, contributing to rises in child labor, gender inequality, and famine around the world. In 2020, progress in eliminating child labor stalled for the first time in 20 years due to rising poverty in Africa; 47 million more women and girls have been pushed into extreme poverty by the pandemic; and amid rising poverty and food prices, 41 million people are at imminent risk of famine in 2021. The lack of urgent action on ending extreme poverty has been due, in part, to a misplaced belief that growth alone could end the deepest forms of poverty. However, progress toward global poverty reduction began slowing in recent years and existing anti-poverty policies and programs were missing many of the most marginalized populations. 79 percent of the bottom quintile of earners in low-income countries were receiving no social assistance whatsoever. The data is clear: We will not be able to eliminate extreme poverty under the status quo. COVID-19 has further exacerbated the issue and made clear that we need all sectors at the global, regional, and local levels to actively take measures to alleviate the worst forms of poverty. The pandemic has taken the world off course in poverty reduction, particularly in low income countries where poverty is projected to increase at a rate of 2.7% in 2021 as compared to 0.2% before the pandemic. The long-term global impact could mean nearly 600 million people could still be living in extreme poverty by 2030, an increase of 50 million people compared to pre-pandemic estimates. Setting a course to eradicate extreme poverty in the foreseeable future will require increased financial support from the international community as many of the governments who are facing rising levels of extreme poverty lack the fiscal space to address it. But money alone will not be enough to address this emergency. Countries will also need to change their policies and programs aimed at poverty reduction to ensure they reach people who are poorest and enable them to build long-term resilience. Extreme poverty is not insurmountable. Evidence-based interventions with the potential to make a tremendous impact on extreme poverty worldwide exist. They are called economic inclusion programs, and they have enabled millions of people around the world to escape cycles of extreme poverty. These interventions focus on empowering people who have been socially and economically excluded to build sustainable livelihoods and often involve providing support for their basic needs alongside asset transfers, skills training, and ongoing coaching. A recent report from the Partnership for Economic Inclusion at the World Bank finds that these interventions are experiencing an unprecedented surge worldwide, with 219 programs now reaching nearly 92 million people across 75 countries. With government-led programs scaling in some countries, economic inclusion programs could reach nearly 20 percent of all people experiencing extreme poverty by 2030. Economic inclusion interventions have the ability to break the poverty cycle for good. The evidence base supporting this is broad and growing; research from LSE found 93% of participants in BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation program in Bangladesh have seen a continued increase in income, savings, consumption, and self-esteem for years after program interventions ended. Innovations for Poverty Action compared Village Enterprise’s Graduation program in Uganda to cash transfers of the same cost and found that economic inclusion interventions led to greater improvements in income, consumption, nutrition, and subjective well-being than cash alone. More evidence is surfacing that suggests these programs have long-term impact. MIT research by Garima Sharma and Nobel Laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo studied Bandhan’s Graduation program in West Bengal, finding that even ten years after starting the interventions, participants saw significant improvements in their consumption, food security, income, and health. Another study conducted by LSE and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) finds that more than a decade after completing BRAC’s Graduation program in Bangladesh, participants were more likely to have more productive jobs with greater job security in 2020 despite the economic shocks of COVID-19. As development actors seek to make meaningful strides in poverty eradication, an emphasis on sustained impacts and resilience building will be more crucial than ever as worsening climate shocks such as flooding, drought, and soil erosion threaten to destroy lives and livelihoods. By scaling economic inclusion interventions, countries can go beyond providing much-needed cash and food aid, enabling people in extreme poverty to build their savings, diversify and increase their incomes, and learn the skills needed to withstand shocks which would otherwise force them back into the poverty trap. Beyond increased financing and more effective long-term approaches, eradicating extreme poverty will require a shift in political will. To drive systems change around the emergency of extreme poverty, we need a new paradigm for how we think and talk about it. Many still believe poverty is a fact of life and there is little we can do about it. This is demonstrably false when we have rigorous evidence to show that a single, two-year intervention can empower people to escape extreme poverty and improve their wellbeing for years afterward. We need to start viewing extreme poverty as a policy choice and take the steps needed to change policies to better meet the complex needs of people who experience it. We also need to stop viewing people in extreme poverty as victims. When given the right tools and resources, people who are the furthest behind can become agents of change in their lives, escaping the poverty trap and building the resilience to continue an upward trajectory that benefits their households and communities. To truly move the needle on ending extreme poverty by 2030, financial and political change is needed, but it is not impossible. We must strive to mobilize support and resources at the global, regional, and local levels, cultivating multisectoral partnerships to rapidly expand proven anti-poverty policies and programs. Only then will we be treating this issue with the urgency it deserves. [IDN-InDepthNews – 14 October 2021] Photo: (left) Buildings affected by worsening flooding in Bangladesh. After Nurjahan moved into a slum to escape flooding in Bangladesh’s south, she used the Graduation program to give her and her family a new outlook on life (right). Credit: BRAC 2019.](/images/bangladesh_floods.jpg)
