Observers Watchful Of US Trade Impact On Medicines Access

from Intellectual Property Watch:


24 July 2007

Observers Watchful Of US Trade Impact On Medicines Access


By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen


The United States has begun incorporating a revised intellectual property and health policy into its bilateral trade deals. But although the overall softer approach towards its partners may improve access to medicines, the debate on the impact of the US free trade agreements on public health in developing countries is not over, according to close observers.

“The net of the changes certainly favours facilitated access, but there are some new potential trouble spots as well,” Frederick Abbott, international law professor at Florida State University College of Law, told Intellectual Property Watch.

The revisions apply to trade deals with Colombia, Korea, Panama and Peru, a spokesperson for the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) told Intellectual Property Watch. So far only Peru has agreed to the changes.

The US FTAs have long been criticised as emphasising the protection of intellectual property rights for US companies at the expense of public health considerations in developing countries signing the agreements (IPW, US Policy, 11 December 2006). A Geneva source said that it was particularly the generics industry that had pushed for the changes in the trade deals as they saw the old provisions as export barriers to these markets.

USTR’s “Bipartisan Agreement on Trade Policy: Intellectual Property,” which emerged after the opposition political party took control of Congress in January, was intended to rectify some of this. It covers environmental and labour laws, and intellectual property and health provisions and stakes out a new course for the US when negotiating bilateral trade deals. It was aimed at getting the approval of Democrats, who gained the majority in Congress at the beginning of 2007, and was agreed between the White House (USTR) and congressional leaders, a source said (IPW, US Policy, 17 May 2007). But time will show whether it will lead to significant changes, sources said.

The USTR spokesperson said that the aim of the bipartisan agreement is “to clear the way for bipartisan support in Congress for these four FTAs and to rebuild the bipartisan consensus on trade that will ensure the US stays actively engaged in the global marketplace.”

The complete piece is at: http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=699&res=&res=1024&print=0