Comparing US PTAs and European ones Sample Clauses

Comparing US PTAs and European ones. The chapter has focused its analysis on a number of PTAs subscribed principally by developing countries with both the USA and the European Union (See Table 1). The USA has shown since the adoption of the TRIPS Agreement a consistent policy of expanding the minimum standards of TRIPS via a number of free trade agreements. NAFTA was the first of those agreements building on the notion of the minimum standards of TRIPS. This expansion, as reviewed in this paper, has a number of manifestations in almost all areas covered by TRIPS but more significantly on three aspects: the protection of pharmaceutical products, copyright issues in the digital environment and a very strong enforcement agenda. The European agreements in their first expressions (e.g. the agreements with South Africa, Chile and Mexico) show a less incremental nature of commitments compared to the US PTAs. They were limited to some general principles reinstating the importance of TRIPS, the adherence to a number of international treaties administered by WIPO (see Box 2) and especial regulations regarding geographical indications for wines and spirits. More recently, the European agreements have become more intrusive and similar in approach to the ones negotiated by the USA. A major shift in European EPAs is manifested in the agreement finalized with the CARIFORUM countries in 2008 and in negotiations taking place at the time of writing with countries with former colonial association with European countries and with Colombia, Peru and India. The most 259 See, for example, the Swiss Patent Office's new approach to the innovation - protection interface, as illustrated by Xxxxx (2006). 260 (Jaszi 2004: p.2). 261 Xxxxx. notable feature of the new generation of agreements is their more aggressive agenda in the same area covered by the US PTAs. The chapter has also highlighted that in the case of the USA, recent agreements also represent an interesting shift in emphasis with respect to pharmaceutical products. The latest PTAs provide clarifications on a number of ambiguous aspects of the earlier free trade agreements still in force in a number of countries. The revised model leaves space for innovative implementation as they emphasize public health related flexibilities much more clearly than did the original texts negotiated by the same countries with the USA. From a political economy point of view, it is interesting to note that these changes were the result of an agreement in the US Congress and not t...