Teaming Up? China, India and Brazil and the Issue of Benefit-Sharing from Genetic Resource Use

Valbona Muzaka & Omar Serrano (2019)

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In this article, we focus on an area that has not been systematically addressed but is of crucial importance to China, India and Brazil: The global governance of genetic resources. All three countries are rich in biodiversity and, ever since biotechnology promised to turn DNA into gold, have been significant players in the regime complex that governs genetic resources. Shortcomings notwithstanding, the establishment of a new access and benefit-sharing regime constitutes a rare instance where emerging countries have succeeded in becoming rule-makers of sorts. We analyse the ways in which these three countries have sought to pursue their interests in this area. 

 The New Architects: Brazil, China and Innovation in Multilateral Development Lending 

 Omar Serrano (2018)

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Recent academic works have shed light upon the motives and negotiation dynamics leading to the creation of the New Development Bank (NDB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). We know less about their day-to-day activities and if (and if so why) they are being innovative in the field of multilateral development lending. This article evaluates novelty in the two banks. It uncovers and suggests an explanation to the puzzle of why the NDB appears more innovative (in terms of institutional design, staffing and lending policy guidelines) than the AIIB by exploring the cases of China and Brazil.

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Free Trade Agreements as BRI’s Stepping-Stone to Multilateralism: Is the Sino–Swiss FTA the Gold Standard?

Tomas CasasiKlett & Omar Serrano (2018)

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Tomas Casas i Klett (China Competence Center, FIM-HSG University of St. Gallen, Switzerland) and Omar Serrano Oswald (University of Geneva, Switzerland) show how FTAs are used by the BRI as stepping-stones for multilateralism. They propose that China’s FTAs are part of a long- term multilateral approach with the potential to be included in the institutional infrastructure of the BRI. By developing a BRI Initiatives Dynamic Evaluation Framework, they emphasize that initiatives under BRI will be subject to decision and evaluation mechanisms that transcend China proper. This means that rather than being static, FTAs are dynamic. The key element in this iteration is the FTA upgrade, which includes trade impact analyses, business agent surveys, utilization rates, and signaling effects. The Sino–Swiss FTA is evaluated as a case study. 

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Special Issue: 

EU and US regulatory power under strain? Emerging countries and the limits of external governance

Edited by Sandra Lavenex and Omar Serrano (2017)

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The EU and the US are at the origin of most international institutions and rules for both trade and finance, and both have long exported their preferred policies to the rest of the world. Today, this hegemonic position is increasingly challenged by the rise of new centres of economic power such as China, India and Brazil. This introductory article introduces the ‘supply-and-demand model of regulatory power’ guiding this Special Issue and, drawing on the latter’s contributions, illustrates the interplay between EU/US regulatory outreach and emerging economies’ domestic politics in explaining the embracement or rejection of EU/US trade-related agendas.

 Rising Economies in the International Patent Regime: From Rule‐Breakers to Rule‐Changers and Rule‐Makers

Morin, JF, O. Serrano, M. Burri, S. Bannerman (2017)

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Rising economies face a crucial dilemma when establishing their position on international patent law. Should they translate their increasing economic strength into political power to further developing countries’ interests in lower levels of international patent protection? Or, anticipating a rising domestic interest in stronger international patent protection, should they adopt a position that favours maximal patent protection? Drawing on multiple case studies using a most-similar system design, we argue that rising economies, after having been coerced into adopting more stringent patent standards, tend to display ambivalent positions, trapped in bureaucratic politics and caught between conflicting domestic constituencies. We find that the recent proliferation of international institutions and the expansion of transnational networks have contributed to fragmentation and polarisation in domestic patent politics. 

Exporting Intellectual Property Rights to Emerging Countries: EU and US Approaches Compared

Ivo Krizic & Omar Serrano (2017)

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This article focuses on the EU’s and the US’s relationship with Brazil, India and China (BIC) in the area of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). The comparison of EU and US approaches yields the interplay between hierarchical (coercive) and horizontal (network-based) strategies used by both sides to advance a maximalist IP agenda vis-à-vis the BIC. We furthermore find the EU taking inspiration (i.e. ‘learning’) from the US in the process of strengthening its external IP policy. Switching the angle to the ‘demand-side’ of emerging countries, China comes out as the most accommodative among the BIC in terms of aligning its IP (especially patent) legislation and enforcement practices with standards promoted by the EU and the US. India and Brazil, on the other hand, have shown more signs of contestation, not only in domestic implementation but also in terms of opposing and seeking alternatives to EU- and US-induced global IP norms

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Usufruindo das Flexibilidades do Acordo TRIPS: Implementação e Difusão dos Regimes de Licenciamento Compulsório no Brasil e na Índia

Omar Serrano & Mira Burri (2017)

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A Saúde Global é uma das áreas entre as quais os países emergentes têm desempenhado um papel importante no que se refere à ordenação das regras internacionais. No período pós-Trips, a Índia e especialmente o Brasil continuaram a liderar coalizões de países em desenvolvimento com o objetivo de limitar e calibrar o impacto das mudanças acarretadas pelo acordo Trips. Dada sua importância, os esforços multilaterais dos países em desenvolvimento na garantia de uma interpretação equilibrada do acordo Trips são bem documentados. Por sua vez, as iniciativas domésticas que complementam e dão lastro a essas iniciativas internacionais receberam bem menos atenção. Este capítulo investiga uma das praticas domésticas mais importantes e sua evolução no cenário pós-Trips em dois dos países em desenvolvimento mais influentes ao longo das negociações do Trips – o licenciamento compulsório. Ao analisá-los procuramos entender até que ponto esses dois países têm aprendido com ou emulado as experiências um do outro e se a coordenação para a implementação das flexibilidades do Trips têm acontecido.

China and India's insertion in the intellectual property rights regime: sustaining or disrupting the rules?

Omar Serrano (2016)

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This paper looks at the insertion of China and India in the contested and highly legalised regime of intellectual property rights (IP). In doing so it pays particular attention at two dimensions, the internal adoption of this regime and external endorsement/contestation of international IP norms. Much has been written about whether emerging countries will challenge or support the maintenance of an open rules-based multilateral trade system. In this context, the differentiated integration of these two countries in the IP regime is notable. Domestically, China despite much criticism for widespread IP infringement has followed a maximalist interpretation of TRIPS. India, on the contrary has followed other emerging countries in pursuing a more critical, minimalist understanding. These positions have also been visible at the multilateral arena. 

促进民主的安全目标: 欧洲外交政策中的‘内外’矛盾 

Omar Serrano, Nanjing Press Company (2015) 

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本章研究的目标是构建欧盟外交政策对国内政治进程和民意的影响􏰀同时通过这一研究􏰀对通过推进内部改革以实现地区安全的欧盟政策进行 评估􏰁􏰁 本章聚焦决策者􏰂和民意􏰃安全关注的不协调状况􏰀在对外交政 策相关问题􏰂来自国内选区􏰃的关注中也出现了类似的情况􏰀这些都不断 对过去十年中的􏰇"宽容共识"􏰈􏰂􏰀􏰁􏰃进行着侵蚀􏰁􏰆 在许多欧盟成员国􏰂􏰆(MS)􏰃内部都存在着对于扩大􏰇"四个自由􏰈􏰂" (资本􏰌劳动力􏰌商品和服务) 的反对声音， 力而后者是欧盟扩大和新睦邻战略的主要推动。

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Book: The Domestic Sources of European Foreign Policy

Omar Serrano, Amsterdam University Press/ University of Chicago Press (2013)

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This timely study considers the challenges of developing a foreign policy for a union of 27 states while taking national political processes into account. Serrano analyses the relevance of domestic political processes for the EU's common policies and examines the democratic deficit in the EU foreign policy, thereby highlighting what is unique about it and reflecting on its possible evolution. As the EU continues to face difficulties in formulating common policies, this volume offers a unique insight into the complexities of enhancing the EU's common policies by assessing domestic political debates and the role of actors who legitimise or constrain support for common policies