Trade Agreements and Public Health: Are US Trade Negotiators Building an Intellectual Property Platform against the Generic Industry? Are They Raising the Standards to Go beyond the US Law?

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is negotiating bilateral free trade agreements that favour patent holders at the expense of the generic industry and consumers. In doing so, the USTR is breaking the balance between innovation and access struck in the US under the Hatch-Waxman Act. Furthermore, although trade agreements negotiated by the US government should seek to foster exports by US companies, these agreements clearly hinder the export of US generic drugs. In addition, these agreements are putting US consumers' access to generic drugs at considerable risk in the event of international patent law harmonisation.