[Ip-health] House Ways and Means Democrats: USTR MUST STRIKE BALANCE BETWEEN PATENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH IN TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

[James Love]

From: Beck, Matthew
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 3:09 PM
To: Beck, Matthew
Subject: NEWS RELEASE: W&M DEMS: USTR MUST STRIKE BALANCE BETWEEN PATENT
AND PUBLIC HEALTH IN TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

The Honorable Charles B. Rangel, Chairman
The Honorable Sander M. Levin, Chairman, Subcommittee on Trade

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Matthew Beck or J. Jioni Palmer (202) 225-8933

June 26, 2008

Ways and Means Democrats Urge USTR to Strike Balance Between Patent and
Public Health Issues in Upcoming Trade Negotiations

Members offer recommendations to achieve better results

WASHINGTON, D.C. =E2=80=93 Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Ran=
gel
(D-NY) and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Sander M. Levin (D-MI) joined
fellow Committee Members Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
in a letter today urging the United States Trade Representative (USTR)
Susan Schwab to strike a balance between patent and public health issues
in upcoming trade negotiations.  The letter outlined the members=E2=80=99
concerns that current efforts are not adequately addressing the need to
improve public health, particularly in developing nations.

In their letter, the members offered suggestions on how to improve the
situation, including the creation of a new advisory committee to address
public health issues, including in developing countries, or an advisory
committee on trade and development.  The members also raised the
possibility of appointing public health representatives to the existing
trade advisory committees.  Please click here to view a signed .PDF of
the letter. Text of the letter follows:


June 26, 2008



The Honorable Susan C. Schwab
U.S. Trade Representative
600 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC  20508

Dear Ambassador Schwab:

        In negotiations and other discussions with our trading partners
in the coming months, we urge you to set a new course that will promote
both pharmaceutical innovation and the health of patients in developing
countries.  We also ask you to take steps to ensure that public health
experts be given an opportunity formally to advise you in the
development of trade policies that relate to public health.

        According to a recent United Nations report, 15 percent of the
world=E2=80=99s population today consumes 90 percent of the world=E2=80=99s=
 medicines.
Improving access to medicines in developing countries is not only a
vital humanitarian objective; it also has the potential to expand
opportunities for innovative U.S. pharmaceutical companies.
Pharmaceutical companies gain nothing when patients in developing
countries have inadequate access to their products.

        We, like you, have worked to ensure that our trading partners do
not discriminate against innovative U.S. pharmaceutical companies =E2=80=93
companies that have worked to achieve extraordinary advances in public
health.  For example, a number of our developed country trading partners
adopt price controls, =E2=80=9Creference pricing,=E2=80=9D and other reimbu=
rsement
policies that in the abstract do not raise concerns, but as applied, can
discriminate against innovative medicines from the United States in
favor of a local industry.  Such discriminatory measures do not
contribute to the goal of improving public health; in fact, they detract
from it.  Accordingly, we have long advocated for a proactive approach
to address discriminatory measures, and we support the efforts you and
others in the Administration have made with us to address these issues.

        We cannot support, however, a statement that was made in the
2008 Special 301 Report with respect to Thailand.  The report suggests
that the issuance of compulsory licenses =E2=80=93 a right under the TRIPS
Agreement =E2=80=93 is, per se, inconsistent with the =E2=80=9Cadequate and=
 effective=E2=80=9D
protection of intellectual property rights.  This assertion is without
explanation and apparently inconsistent with the declaration the United
States and other WTO Members made in 2001 that =E2=80=9Ceach Member has the
right to grant compulsory licenses and the freedom to determine the
grounds upon which such licenses are granted.=E2=80=9D

        To be sure, the issuance of compulsory licenses can raise
legitimate concerns in some circumstances.  For example, compulsory
licenses should be issued only on a case-by-case basis, not as part of a
blanket policy.  And, even where a government issues a compulsory
license, that government is required to pay the patent holder =E2=80=9Cadeq=
uate
remuneration in the circumstances of each case.=E2=80=9D  But it is a gross
oversimplification to suggest that compulsory licensing necessarily and
per se is inconsistent with the protection of intellectual property
rights.

        The existing imbalance between incentives for innovation and
access to medicines in developing countries may reflect, in part, an
imbalance in the advice USTR receives from the international trade
advisory committees.  In a 2002 report on the trade advisory system, the
U.S. Government Accountability Office found that =E2=80=9Cnew stake holders=
 in
the trade process, such as public health [experts] ... have limited or
no participation in the formal committee system.=E2=80=9D  Similarly, five =
years
later, the GAO stated that, since Congress granted trade promotion
authority in 2002, =E2=80=9Cpublic health input into U.S. trade negotiation=
s has
been limited.=E2=80=9D

        We therefore urge you to take steps to ensure that public health
experts are represented in the formal trade advisory committee system.
This could mean the creation of a new advisory committee that could
address public health issues, including in developing countries, or an
advisory committee on trade and development; it could mean the
appointment of public health representatives to the existing relevant
trade advisory committees; or it could mean some combination of these
two approaches.

        In the May 10th agreement, we struck a better balance between
encouraging pharmaceutical innovation and providing access to medicines
in developing countries.  We hope we can now work with you to find that
same balance in other areas where trade policy and public health
intersect.

        Sincerely,




The Honorable Charles B. Rangel

The Honorable Sander M. Levin

The Honorable Rahm Emanuel

The Honorable Chris Van Hollen



###


_____________________________________________

Matthew J. Beck

Communications Director and Policy Advisor

Ways and Means Committee

1102 Longworth HOB

Washington, D.C. 20515

http://waysandmeans.house.gov

(202) 225-3526 - Direct

(202) 225-2610 - Fax

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