U.S. Tables TPP Drug Pricing Proposal; Still Mulling Other IPR Revisions

摘要

LEESBURG, Va - A senior U.S. negotiator said on Sept. 9 that the U.S. had already tabled here at the 14th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks a refined proposal on transparency rules for national drug pricing and reimbursement programs, and that it is now up to TPP partners to review the revised U.S. text. "We have put forward a revised proposal," the negotiator said in an interview with Inside U.S. Trade, when asked about the drug pricing proposal. "We gave it to [TPP partners] at the table. They need to review it." The revised U.S. proposal is expected to ease up in its general demands for rules governing how countries implement their reimbursement programs, even as the U.S. continues to press hard for specific commitments from individual TPP members, including New Zealand (Inside U.S. Trade, Sept. 7). The senior U.S. negotiator also signaled that talks on the U.S. proposal for disciplines on state-owned enterprises are still in their early stages and that other TPP countries have not yet formally responded to the language the U.S. has put forth (see related story). U.S. business groups had hoped that real negotiations would begin at this round, meaning that TPP partners would either agree to the U.S. language or begin proposing their own alternatives.