Agree To Disagree

Although the expression "agree to disagree" was first documented in a letter in 1750, I first heard about it 30 years ago. It was in the context of the Uruguay Round of the GATT-TRIPS negotiations regarding a Hong Kong proposal on the issue of parallel importation. The output was Article 6 (Exhaustion) of the WTO-TRIPS Agreement 1994, making it certain that the Agreement did not address the issue at all.

In early 2000s, at a WIPO's Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC), I heard a chairman proudly remarking on the mantra that: "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed." Basing on the principle, I felt the road to secure an intellectual property (IP) treaty, addressing the economic divide between North and South would be long and winding. As time goes by, delegates are still negotiating the single undertaking to date.

In 2010, I negotiated the IP chapter of Hong Kong, China's first free trade agreement with European economies ie European Free Trade Association (EFTA). I agreed on areas that would advance mutual interests, but disagreed on any items that would benefit the other side without equivalent trade-offs. Basing on the principle of good faith, our game rule was: whatever that was agreed would not be re-opened.

I take pride in my contribution to the WTO-TRIPS Agreement 1994, and the Hong Kong, China's Free Trade Agreement with EFTA 2011. As to the WIPO-IGC process on IP and Traditional Knowledge, Genetic Resources and Folklore, I envy delegates' opportunities to visit Geneva annually. Meanwhile, I watch with interest how the mantra would work in the Brexit negotiations with a March 29, 2019 deadline!