A/HRC/11/12 page 22 TRIPS-plus standards increase medicine prices as they delay or restrict the introduction of generic competition.78 It should also be noted that TRIPS-plus measures could also arise in other contexts such as terms for WTO accession.79 70. The need for public health to be taken into consideration in negotiating these agreements has been highlighted not only in developing countries and LDCs but also in developed countries. The European Parliament for example, in 2007, specifically asked the European Commission to take into consideration the need to protect public health in support of the Doha Declaration and refrain from negotiating TRIPS-plus provisions. Nevertheless, countries continue to negotiate and introduce agreements with TRIPS-plus standards.80 TRIPS and the Doha Declaration specifically allow for countries to protect the right to health. As FTAs can directly affect access to medicines, there is a need for countries to assess multilateral and bilateral trade agreements for potential health violations and that all stages of negotiation remain open and transparent. B. Restricting TRIPS flexibilities 71. Several FTAs and BITs seek to restrict countries from implementing TRIPS flexibilities. An illustrative example is the attempt to broaden the scope of patentability. 72. As discussed, TRIPS flexibilities allow member States to define patentability criteria. However, a number of FTAs signed or currently being negotiated have restricted or even eliminated this flexibility by requiring that parties provide patent protections for second uses,81 thereby allowing patentees to evergreen existing patents. vol. 84, No. 5 (May 2006), p. 399; F. Abbott, “The Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and public health and the contradictory trend in bilateral and regional free trade agreements”, occasional paper 14, Quaker United Nations Office (April 2004); Study of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health (2005), executive summary. 78 “All costs, no benefits: how TRIPS-plus intellectual property rules in the US-Jordan FTA affect access to medicines”, Oxfam Briefing Paper (March 2007). See also, UNDP-ICTSD conference: Monitoring the Impact of IP Protection on Public Health: Reviewing Progress, 2008. 79 E/CN.4/2004/49/Add.1. 80 European Parliament, Resolution on the TRIPS Agreement and access to medicines (12 July 2007). The Resolution specifically mentions prevention of use of data exclusivity and patent extension. 81 See for example, article 17.9 (1), United States-Australia FTA, article 15.9 (2), United States-Morocco FTA and article 14.8 (2), United States-Bahrain FTA.