Liberal Activists Plan USMCA Action on Biologics
Liberal activists who opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- and some that have been active since they opposed NAFTA -- will work to pressure lawmakers to sign a letter demanding that a 10-year exclusivity provision for biologic drugs be removed from the new NAFTA. They are organizing events around the country for April 24, with buttons that say "NAFTA 2.0: Pharma Rigged It, Will Congress Fix It?"
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Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, said that her group appreciates the work U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer did on Mexican labor reform, and "squashing it [investor-state dispute settlement in Mexico] to almost nothing." But she said his message to Democrats on biologics is unhelpful. "He is saying this is it, the thing that got signed -- that’s the end of the discussion," she said on a call with activists this week. "There’s been a process of trying to scare Democrats into supporting it."
Wallach says the provision can be changed "without breaking open the entire agreement," and she said the mechanism to do that is "a protocol of amendment; signed by the three countries." That means Mexico, Canada and the U.S. would agree to edit the text.
She was clear that her group would prefer for an amended NAFTA to be ratified rather than to leave the current NAFTA in place -- even though they believe enforcement of labor and environmental provisions is not where it needs to be yet, and they want the biologics provision out.
Wallach said that House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., was not in anti-trade-deal activists' corner with TPP. But she said what he's saying now about biologics and the environment (see 1903250061) is "exactly the right message. You should be loving on Mr. Blumenauer right now."
The action is designed to get as many Democrats as possible to sign on to a letter co-led by Rep. Susan Davis, a Democrat with a San Diego-area district, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. Although they don't usually see eye-to-eye on trade, Wallach said, they both agree they don't want the new NAFTA to handcuff Congress's ability to shorten the period before biosimilars can enter the market to compete against biologic brand name drugs. Currently, U.S. law is 12 years; the new NAFTA raises Canadian and Mexican periods to 10 years.
Representatives from Davis' and Schakowsky's offices did not respond to questions about how many members have signed so far. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who is leading meetings of Democrats unhappy with the agreement, issued a statement on April 19 that said, ". The minimal economic gains the ITC projects—if they could even be counted, which is far from certain given ITC’s past projections—are far outweighed by the damage this deal would do by locking in monopoly rights for Big Pharma and ensuring that drug prices remain high."