The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) includes provisions allowing least-developed countries an exemption from many obligations, without losing the possibility to trade with others on favourable terms (Article 66).

Thanks to this, countries which are most in need of investment in education, research and cultural participation are not forced to use scarce resources for enforcement, and have more flexibility to introduce laws which enable libraries to carry out their missions.

With key decisions about the prolongation of these exemptions due shortly, IFLA has joined with EIFL to issue a letter addressed to World Trade Organization members. This urges them to ensure that least developed countries – and their libraries and users – continue to benefit from more favourable provisions.

Download the letter as a pdf. See also our related news story.