Intellectual property rights and its implications for the pharmaceutical industry in Iraq under accession to the World Trade Organization

Abstract

The main risks arising from the WTO Agreement are the inequality and lack of competitiveness of most pharmaceutical goods, as well as the fact that Iraq is a net importer of medicines that are at the core of consumer needs, The subject matter of the Convention on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights and its implications for the pharmaceutical industry, in particular, coinciding with the situation of financial and administrative corruption, all of which has resulted in drug fraud in the Iraqi market and its impact on public health. The control of medical technology, the persistence of the technological gap and its effects on high price levels, and the fact that domestic drug producers are obliged to obtain production licenses from global companies in the light of limited access to pharmaceutical research and development. The research aims at the impact of economic liberalization within the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its negative effects on consumers by highlighting the economic and social effects on consumption by raising prices and monopolies and restricting the volume of consumer demand because of the loss of the competitive advantage of pharmaceutical goods. Iraq's unwillingness to accede to the International Convention for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the deterioration of the pharmaceutical industry meant increased dependence on the outside, increased trade deficits, higher price levels, and its adverse effects on consumers. Iraq finds it difficult for developed countries to use their intellectual rights as well as restrict industrial and agricultural work because production and production methods are now subject to their intellectual property protection law, which prevents any possible industrial development. The most significant potential short-term impact of TRIPS is the decline in drug production, which continues to be protected. The great challenge for drug producers is the need to