Colombia’s entry into the OECD is pending, for non-compliance of commitments in Intellectual Property

On 25 February 2018, United States sent a letter to the Colombian Government, in which specifies a series of commitments on intellectual property that Colombia must fulfill in order to obtain the approval of the OECD Trade Committee and make the country’s accession to that organization a reality.

The recommendations are linked to the updating of the copyright law (issued in 1982), as well as to the revision of the National Development Plan, regarding the pharmaceutical and medicine issue (considering that there are flaws in the protection of patents at a national level, especially those related to the pharmaceutical sector).

The next meeting of the Trade Committee will be held in April 2018, and in March, delegations from the Governments of Colombia and the United States will meet to reach agreements on the matter.