Nod to changes in TRIPS agreement

India today approved crucial amendments in the WTO agreement on TRIPS, permitting governments to break the monopoly of manufacturers of patented drugs by giving "compulsory licences" in emergency situations.

The decision to approve amendment in Article 31 of the TRIPS agreement was taken by the Cabinet Committee on WTO, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after the meeting.

World Trade Organisation members, at its Doha ministerial meeting in 2001, had decided to amend Article 31 of TRIPS for providing compulsory licences.

Mukherjee said most of the least developed countries, the main beneficiaries of the TRIPS amendment, had already approved the new patent regime.