Bioprospecting or Biopiracy: Does the TRIPS Agreement Undermine the Interests of Developing Countries?

The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) created within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WIO) poses a contentious discord between developed and developing nations. The criticism that TRIPS is nothing more than a modern vehicle of western imperialism encapsulates the perception that the TRIPS is inimical to the interests of developing countries. The ostensible failure of the wro regime to raise the living standards of developing countries, a centerpiece putative effect of economic liberalization heralded in the Uruguay Round, miserably highlighted the fundamental social, cultural and widening economic differences between the two bipolarized camps.