Global Externs' Blog

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has an agreement solely on the issue of government procurement and it is the WTO’s Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA).  The WTO is an international organization that is run by its member governments with all major decisions being made by the member countries as a whole.  The rules and agreements […]

There have been a great number of national commitments made and program initiatives created in order to achieve the MDGs. Many of these commitments, however, have not been fulfilled as evidenced by the current status of the MDGs. The U.N. itself does not have an international legal enforcement entity that enforces the agreements made as […]

Bonjour!  It is with great pleasure that I submit this blog entry from Geneva, Switzerland.  This summer I had the wonderful opportunity of traveling here to complete an 8-week internship with the World Health Organization. The World Health Organization was founded in 1948 as a specialized agency under the United Nations.  The Constitution of the […]

The United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) Special 301 Report is an annual review of the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in countries around the world, conducted under the authority granted in the Trade Act of 1974. Under Special 301 provisions, the USTR is charged with identifying which countries deny adequate and effective protection […]

Well maybe that’s being a little dramatic, but since I’ve been at the ITA, I’ve learned that in many of the world’s countries counterfeit drugs has been a problem and that this problem is increasing as I write this blog post.    The first step here is to define what a counterfeit medicine is, but […]

Although the United Nations is not an international government, it is the governing authority on international law. One of the stated purposes of the organization is to “establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained.” In addition, Article 103 of the  […]

The Uruguay Round, a series of multilateral trade negotiations spanning 1986-1994, produced most of the World Trade Organization agreements including the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Prior to TRIPS, the extent and enforcement of intellectual property rights varied substantially around the world.  In the context of pharmaceuticals, many developing countries […]