Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement - Public Health and Medicines Policies
NO ORDINARY DEAL - UNMASKING THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP FREE TRADE AGREEMENT, Ch. 10, pp. 149-162, J. Kelsey, ed., Allen & Unwin, 2010
16 Pages Posted: 16 Nov 2010
Date Written: November 7, 2010
Abstract
This chapter examines the extent to which the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) may impact on public health and medicines policy in the countries party to the agreement. It is based on a critical analysis of two sets of submissions from influential US health-related corporations and industry bodies to the US Trade Representative (USTR) in 2009. The first submissions were on the TPPA itself and sought provisions that would impede the market entry of generic medicines and restrict the capacity of governments to operate evidence-based systems to assess the cost-effectiveness of health technologies. Some of these submissions also advocated the inclusion of investor-state dispute-settlement procedures that would allow foreign corporations to sue governments if their investments are impeded for example by public health legislation. The second reference point concerned recommendations of the powerful US pharmaceutical lobby group, PhRMA that placed various TPPA negotiating countries on the ‘Section 301 Trade Watch’ list for maintaining policies that allegedly violate the intellectual property rights (IPRs) (or intellectual monopoly privileges (IMPs)) of US firms. The chapter evaluates the political responses to these probable TPPA proposals by the US, the most powerful of the TPPA parties, particularly those related to investor-state dispute settlement. It suggests an alternative approach that aims to reconcile public health objectives with a 21st century trade agreement.
Keywords: Free Trade Agreement, Intellectual monopoly privilege, globalisation, investor state dispute settlement
JEL Classification: K32, K33, L65, O34
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation