The Chamber of Deputies approved a bill that ratifies the amendment protocol to the Agreement on Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights related to Commerce (Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio or ADPIC). This allows those member states of the World Trade Organization that do not have pharmaceutical industries to import generic medications during health emergencies. The bill will now be debated by the Senate.

This international instrument promotes technology transfers and pharmaceutical capabilities to assist member states that must overcome the problem of having insufficient or nonexistent medicine-manufacturing resources.

The amendment modifies the 1995 WTO agreement on the ADPIC and went into effect on January 23, 2017.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and the Andean Health Organization (Organismo Andino de Salud or ORAS) have recommended that countries ratify this amendment