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On July 26, fourteen Democratic Members of the House Committee on Ways and Means have written President Obama asking that a policy deal struck in 2007 by Congressional Democrats and the Bush Administration to guide the requirements of Free Trade Agreements be upheld in the Trans Pacific Partnership. Commonly referred to as the “May 10” deal, the consensus addressed intellectual property, labor and environmental concerns.

The letter was signed by Reps. Levin, McDermott, Rangel, Stark, Lewis, Neal, Becerra, Thompson, Larson, Blumenauer, Kind, Pascrell, Berkley, and Crowley.

The May 10 deal’s provisions on intellectual property and healthcare removed mandatory “linkage” between patent office and health regulators from pending trade agreements.  It removed mandatory patent extensions. The May 10 deal limited periods of data exclusivity to five years by addressing situations where one country relies on approval by another.

USTR has been under pressure to back away from this compromise on IP and medicines, and to embrace stronger IP provisions.  The drug industry has lobbied for an abandonment of the deal, and Senators have written asking for the highest possible levels of IP protections for biopharmaceuticals.

USTR has not indicated whether or not it will backtrack from the agreement. Today a Tina Rosenberg writes in the New York Times that a “U.S. trade official told me that its proposals on data exclusivity are not yet set.”

Congressional Documents

• July 26, 2011 Press release and letter from House Democrats to President Obama.
• May 10, 2007. House Democrats description of bipartisan trade deal.