[Ip-health] Possible US Trade Rep. Becerra on IP & Health

[Ben Krohmal]

Rep. Becerra, who has reportedly been offered the job as the next U.S.
Trade Representative, has previously signed a number of statements
(some
previously posted on this list serve) indicating support for a trade
policy that better reflects the health commitments of Doha.  For
example:


November 10, 2005
http://www.cptech.org/ip/health/trade/andean/housedemocrats11102005.pdf
Criticizes the Bush Administration for pushing for FTA provisions that
" 1) expand patent coverage to include diagnostic, therapeutic and
_surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals; (2) provide
"at least" five years of market exclusivity to manufacturers of new
medicines independent of patent protection; (3) provide patents for
new uses of patented products; (4) require national drug authorities
to serve as the enforcers of drug patents, and (5)impose restrictions
on a country's ability to allow parallel importing of patented drugs"
while failing to support provisions that "would promote greater access
to affordable medicines, such as: (1) a "Bolar-type" provision to
ensure that countries permit testing and experimental work required
for the registration of a generic medicine during the patent period of
the original product so that generics can enter the market immediately
after the expiration of the patent; (2) a requirement that
patentholders disclose the "best mode" for reproducing an invention so
that society can benefit from it after the patent expires; or (3) caps
on patent extensions for delays in the issuance of a patent or the
marketing approval process."  He concludes that "Our FTAs must uphold,
at a minimum, the essential balance in U.S. law between promoting
innovation and affordable health care and must respect the unique
public health needs of our trading partners. We urge you to ensure
that the USTR promotes these principles in trade negotiations so that
FTAs do not put affordable health care at risk, -at home and abroad."

January 26, 2005
http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/ip-health/2005-January/007398.html
<snip>
"the Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002 directs USTR to uphold the
2001 WTO Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health ("Doha
Declaration") and additional protocols on its implementation. The
fundamental purpose of the Doha Declaration was to ensure that trade
rules on intellectual property do not interfere with the ability of
developing countries to take "measures to protect public health ...
and to promote access to medicines for all.
Inclusion of test data secrecy/market exclusivity provisions in an FTA
with small, relatively poor developing economies such as the DR-CAFTA
countries interferes directly with this central purpose of the Doha
Declaration."
<snip>

May 27, 2004
http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/ip-health/2004-May/006503.html
<snip>
"We urged USTR to modify its position relating to access to medicines in
the CAFTA countries.  Unfortunately, the CAFTA negotiated by the Bush
Administration includes a provision that will make it more difficult for
Central American countries to get low-cost life-saving generic medicines
to their citizens."
<snip>

September 30, 2004
http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/ip-health/2004-October/007020.html
<snip>
"The fundamental purpose of the Doha Declaration was to clarify that
trade rules on intellectual property do not interfere with the ability
of developing countries to take measures to protect public health. The
Doha Declaration clearly reaffirmed the right of WTO Members to use
parallel imports and compulsory licenses to promote access to
medicines.  The flexibility to use such measures can be extremely
important for countries struggling with HIV/AIDS and other serious
diseases, where new brand-name medications may be priced out of the
reach of those suffering.
Despite the consensus reflected in the Doha Declaration, your
Administration appears to be seeking bilateral and multilateral
agreements that undermine its important protections.. .  USTR should
not continue to use side letters in FTAs with language that need to be
resolved through
legislative history.  The language in the FTA itself must be clear and
specific that, in order to meet the public healthy needs of their
citizens, countries may continue to use the flexibilities explicit in
the Doha Declaration, including parallel imports and compulsory
licenses, and implicit in the consensus underlying that Declaration,
such as reliance on otherwise-protected clinical test data."
<snip>