More than 200 non-governmental organizations and individuals from dozens of countries around the world signed a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright expressing "concern at the manner in which the United States government is intervening in the domestic affairs of numerous other nations regarding their intellectual property laws".

The Convention on Biological Diversity, the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources of the FAO and the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) are explained along with examples of U.S. interference in other countries regarding their intellectual property laws.

This article was originally published in Bridges, 1997, Volume 1, Number 4.