Between Regional Recommendations and National Implementation: An Analysis of the East African Community Partner States’ Legislative Responses to TRIPS Obligations

With the access-to-medicines conundrum facing its populations, the East African Community has adopted a policy framework which promotes a collective approach to resolving the access gap in the region. To this end, crucial policy documents on the implementation of TRIPS obligations, harmonisation of drug regulation and boosting regional manufacturing capacity have been adopted. This paper is a case study of the regional policy on the implementation of TRIPS obligations, specifically examining the extent to which partner states’ implementation of TRIPS obligations mirrors the regional recommendations. The paper finds that, while many partner states follow the regional recommendations on implementing TRIPS obligations, coherence remains a big challenge. This, the paper concludes, may affect the overall usefulness of a regional approach to solving the access conundrum.