Example of a Draft Resolution
Notes:
1 The part of the WTO agreement dealing with patents, known as TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights), allows exceptions to patent rules in the case of a national emergency or where a product will have non-commercial uses.
2 “facilitating inclusive, country-driven processes, including consultations with relevant stakeholders, including non-governmental organization, civil society and the private sector, within existing national AIDS strategies, for scaling up HIV prevention, treatment, care and support with the aim of coming as close as possible to the goal of universal access to treatment by 2010 for all those who need it.”
(UN Resolution 60/224)
3The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on 23 December 2005, calling for a comprehensive review of the progress made in implementing the 2001 UN Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. As a result the United Nations has a commitment in dealing with the world AIDS epidemic see www.unaids.org for more information on the work of UNAIDS the resulting department set up to co-ordinate the work of governments, charities and international QUANGOs in dealing with the issue.
4 More than 22 million people have died of AIDS, about 18 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
Notes continued:
6 Cognizant is a perambulatory phrase used in UN resolutions, which can be read as “realizing”.
7. HIV-related intellectual property falls into the first category and includes a number of important AIDS medicines and diagnostics. The patents on these products grant the pharmaceutical companies that developed them exclusive rights to make and market them for a certain period of time, typically 20 years. The purpose of the patent is to act as an incentive for companies to make considerable investment in research and development of new drugs, knowing that, with a monopoly in the market place, they stand a good chance of recouping their investment and making a profit.
8 The United States, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom have been granted exceptions to TRIPS and the pre-WTO trade rules many times to protect their own interests in areas as wide-ranging as pharmaceuticals, computers, software, and biotechnology innovations. Canada recently said it would seek a compulsory license — a license to produce and import the generic version of a brand-name medicine — to ensure its stock of anti-anthrax drugs. New Zealand, Australia and Italy have also used compulsory licensing as an antitrust measure.
9The United States has also bilaterally threatened sanctions against several countries with severe AIDS problems, such as Thailand, South Africa and Brazil.
“AIDS is already tearing these countries apart. They shouldn't face sanctions from the developed world on top of that.” Joanne Csete, Director of the HIV/AIDS program of Human Rights Watch
10 A moratorium is a legally authorized postponement of the fulfillment of an obligation.
To: PGS MUN
Sponsor: The Federal Republic of Brazil
Re: Intellectual property disputes and AIDs medication
The General Assembly,
1) Recalling Article 73 of the Final Act of the 1986–1994 Uruguay Round of 2) trade negotiations,
4) Recalling United Nations resolution 60/224,
5) Recognizing the important role of the international community and 6) international cooperation in order to assist Member states, particularly 7) developing countries, and tocomplement national efforts for generating
8) an effective response to HIV/AIDS,
9)Alarmed by recent World Health Organization (WHO) figures that state 10)approximately 9,000 persons a day die of AIDS, the large majority in
11)countries where anti-retroviral drugs are unavailable or unaffordable, 12)Cognizant of the severely limiting effect of international patents on 13) access to AIDS medicines because prices have been set that are far
14) beyond the reach of developing countries, where they are most needed 15)to save lives, Taking into consideration past exceptions to the Final Act
16) of the 1986–1994 Uruguay Round of trade negotiations granted at 17) previous WTO summits,
18) 1. Strongly condemns countries that have use bilateral sanctions to 19) impede thedistribution of AIDS treatment;
20) 2. Declares accordingly an indefinite moratorium 10 of TRIPS 21) obligations for countries facing an AIDS epidemic as defined and 22) determine by UNAID.
23) 3. Calls Upon all MEDCs to dedicate a significant percentage of the aid budget to be for further research into an AIDS cure and ensuring that HIV/AIDS education programs are significantly improved and provided for for those countries close to or suffering an AIDS epidemic.
5 HIV is an uncommon type of virus called a retrovirus, and drugs developed to disrupt the action of HIV are known as antiretroviral or ARVs. These come in a variety of formulations designed to act on different stages of the life-cycle of HIV. The AIDS virus mutates rapidly, which makes it extremely skilful at developing resistance to drugs. To minimize this risk, people with HIV are generally treated with a combination of ARVs that attack the virus on several fronts at once.
