Will This Trade Deal Block Some Generic Drugs from the U.S.?

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http://www.thefiscal...eneric-Drugs-US

Rob Garver

The prospect of a bipartisan deal on trade between the Republican-led Congress and President Obama has Democrats and consumer advocates worried. A big concern is the deal’s treatment of pharmaceutical patent protections that could make generic drugs harder to bring to market.

When the current Congress was seated in Washington in January, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the new Senate Majority Leader, was cautiously optimistic that the GOP-controlled legislature could find common ground with a Democratic president. He didn’t promise the moon, but he said there was substantial room for agreement on certain issues. One of those was the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade deal that has been under negotiation for the last five years.

Now, Republicans in Congress are pushing to approve legislation that would “fast-track” the TPP agreement once negotiations are finished – and the president is supporting them. What that means is this: Lawmakers would only be allowed an up-or-down vote on the entire package – rather than being able to get under the hood of the deal and perhaps challenge certain provisions.

point of fast-track authority is two-fold. First, it gives the 11 other countries confidence that Congress won’t start rewriting the deal once it’s been completed. Second, it makes ultimate passage through Congress much more likely – individual lawmakers would, presumably, be less likely to challenge small provisions if the only way to do so entailed scuttling the whole thing.

The deal is a source of concern for any number of reasons. Organized labor worries it will send even more U.S. jobs overseas. Environmentalists say it doesn’t seem to have adequate protections against pollution and climate change. Pharmaceutical firms worry it could extend patent protection for lifesaving medicines, or raise new barriers to the introduction of generics – meaning higher prices for consumers and for government-run health care programs.

The concerns are difficult for the deal’s opponents to articulate because of the extreme secrecy of the deal’s negotiations. However, documents leaked to The New York Timesand the international transparency advocacy organization Wikileaks earlier this year suggested that industry groups, including pharmaceuticals companies, have privileged access to and influence over the talks – something refused even to members of Congress.

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[WarTim 3,456]

Anything barry and his buds can do to FORCE single payer...they WILL do.