People’s Majlis consideration is to be sought for Maldives to accept the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s Protocol Amending the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih reached the decision following the discussions held with his Cabinet of Ministers on December 7.

The agreement establishes a minimum level of protection that WTO Members are required to provide for the intellectual property of other members.

Further, the protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement is the first amendment to the agreement that highlights options open for developing and least-developed countries to address public health needs, which has also been termed “flexibilities”.

With the amendment, a decision on patents and public health is to be made permanent and it also allows countries that cannot produce generic drugs to acquire medicines from third country producers under "compulsory licensing" arrangements.

The amendment also allows exporting countries to grant compulsory licenses to generic suppliers exclusively for the manufacturing and exporting of essential medicines to countries that do not have the capacity to manufacture.