Despite the breakdown of negotiations at the Fifth World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico, from 10-14 September 2003, a compulsory licensing agreement adopted by the WTO General Council prior to the Cancun meeting still stands1,2. The agreement will allow WTO members to import - under compulsory licences - drugs to treat various diseases that include but are not limited to HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis3-5. The new agreement addresses paragraph six of the 2001 Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health , which called on the TRIPS Council to seek a solution to Article 31(f) of the TRIPS Agreement . Under Article 31(f), WTO members can authorise the production of patented products without permission from the `right holder' (i.e. compulsory licensing) in cases of public health crises, but the product must be `predominantly for the supply of the domestic market' in the country where the authorisation is issued. This obligation relating to the domestic market has been waived, allowing drugs manufactured under compulsory licence in one country to be exported to another.
The TRIPS Council will carry out an annual review of the new system to ensure its effective operation. It includes...