The least developed countries including Bangladesh got another eight more years of exemption from implementing the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement as World Trade Organisation on Tuesday extended the exemption period until June 2021,
officials of the commerce ministry said on Wednesday.‘TRIPS Council of the WTO on Tuesday extended the exemption for LDCs from implementing TRIPS agreement by eight more years which was set to expire on June 30, 2013,’ a senior commerce ministry official told New Age on Wednesday.
Bangladeshi users of intellectual property rights will not have to pay royalty for technology and formula invented by other countries meaning that prices of many products will remain cheaper, he said.
The WTO, however, did not make any decision about extending the exemption for pharmaceuticals products as the deadline of such exemption for the products will expire on December 31, 2015, he said.
At the negotiation started from January this year, the LDCs pushed for extension of the general exemption as it was going to expire in June. Pharmaceuticals products enjoy the exemption by separate rules of the WTO.
So LDCs will get enough time for negotiating for extension of the exemption for pharmaceuticals products and the negotiation will start from the beginning of the next year, he said.
The officials said Bangladeshi businesses and other users of intellectual property rights would be benefited because of this extension as there will be no obligation to comply with the TRIPS agreement which says that manufactures and users of IP rights will have to pay royalty for the technology invented by other countries.
The overall economy of the country will be benefited as people will not have to pay royalty for using formula or technology invented by others, they said.
TRIPS agreement was adopted by WTO in 1994 and the LDCs have been enjoying the exemption from complying it since then.
The agreement requires WTO member states to legislate and enforce minimum standards for the protection of intellectual property such as copyrights, patents, designs and trademarks.
-With New Age input
