The Cabinet yesterday approved the WTO's Protocol Amending the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which allows WTO members to export patented medicines to third world countries with no pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity.
Outgoing Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
"[Taiwan] is able to assist other WHO countries and is willing to fulfill its obligations as expected by the international community. Agreeing to the protocol would also help increase Taiwan's visibility," Chang said at the Cabinet's weekly meeting.
The proposed amendment concerns Article 31 of the TRIPS agreement, which allows countries that do not have the capacity to manufacture generic drugs to import them under a compulsory license.
The Article permits signatories to issue such licenses and sets out the conditions under which they can be granted.
But restrictions on exports in Article 31 have been criticized as an insurmountable obstacle for many poor countries in desperate need of affordable medicines to combat epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
The article only allows a country to issue a compulsory license for a drug manufactured and predominantly used within its borders.
The protocol will only enter into force once two-thirds of the WTO's members, or 151 members, have approved it.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet yesterday approved an amendment to the Money Laundering Control Law (
Chang called on lawmakers to pass the amendment ahead of the 16th Plenary Meeting of the Egmont Group -- an international organization of financial intelligence units, of which Taiwan is a member -- later this month.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
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