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4 J. World Intell. Prop. 5 (2001)

handle is hein.journals/jwip4 and id is 1 raw text is: Intellectual Property Rights and Food Security The Efficacy of International Initiatives Jai Prakash MISHRA* From the standpoint of agriculture, two major international initiatives, one by GATT and the other by the Food and Agriculture Organization, were taken in the 1990s: the GATT concluded its Uruguay Round of talks at Marrakesh in 1994, popularly known as the GATT/World Trade Organization Agreement; and the FAo outlined the action plan of the World Food Summit (WFs) at Rome in 1996, popularly known as the Rome Declaration, for ensuring food security. The GATT/WTo Agreement has, however, attracted more attention than the Rome Declaration and there are many reasons why this is so. It is a legally binding instrument. Each Member country of the WTo must comply with the commitments made by the Member countries in the various Agreements of the GATT/WTO Agreement. The Rome Declaration is not a legally binding instrument. Apart from this, the GATT/WTo Agreement has a unique feature, namely, the Agreement on Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (commonly called the TRIPS Agreement) which also covers trade in counterfeit goods. The TRIPS Agreement has attracted world- wide interest. It seems that in many countries there was little awareness of intellectual property rights when the TRIPS Agreement was signed. The problem was most pronounced in developing countries. Even in India, where the legal systems are well developed, the level of IPR awareness was low. The Indian legal system was not adequate for the protection of various types of IPRs discussed in the TRIPS Agreement. There was no legal system for the protection of two major IPRs, namely, geographical indications and layout designs of integrated circuits. But the TRIPS Agreement has been viewed with concern as well. It has been viewed as a threat to domestic industries and agriculture, and also to food security. The concern is again pronounced in developing countries. The problem of food insecurity is increasing in the developing countries. Although the WFS of 1996 has discussed the problem of food insecurity at length and made commitments for wiping out hunger and food insecurity through the Rome Declaration, there is a need to analyse whether the commitments and action plans of the WFs are consistent with the objective of achieving food security. It is also in order to examine whether the commitments of the WFs have an interface with the GATT/WTO Agreement. * Acting Assistant Director General, Economics, Statistics and Marketing Unit, Indian Council ofAgricultural Research, New Delhi, India. The views expressed in this article are personal.

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