Intellectual property in agricultural trade

iii Foreword Intellectual property is becoming increasingly important to agricultural trade. The success of Australian agriculture may be determined more in the future by our ability to engage in effective marketing and product innovation, than our ability to continue to improve yields. If this is the case, the international rules governing the trade aspects of intellectual property are important in defining the path of Australia's continued development in the agricultural sector. The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs) sets minimum standards for intellectual property (IP) rights around the world. TRIPs is due to be reviewed at the end of 1999. In this context, it is timely to consider what opportunities the international IP framework gives Australia and to begin to form an opinion about what outcomes are desirable for agriculture in the coming TRIPs review. This publication considers how changes in the TRIPs agreement might impact on Australian agriculture. It identifies some areas where Australian agriculture stands to gain, and some areas where it stands to lose. Following that, it suggests what might be a good outcome from the coming review of TRIPs and which industries are likely to be most affected. This report, a new addition to RIRDC's diverse range of over 250 research publications, forms part of the Global Competitiveness R&D program, which aims to identify important impediments to the development of a globally competitive Australian agricultural sector and support research that will lead to options and strategies that will remove these impediments Peter Core Managing Director Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation iv Acknowledgements This paper benefited from the comments provided by a steering committee. Contents Foreword iii Acknowledgements iv Abbreviations vii Executive summary ix