USA Urged To Withdraw Action Against Argentina

Veteran US consumer activist Ralph Nader has written to PresidentClinton urging him to withdraw the trade actions announced against Argentina on January 15 (Marketletters January 20 and 27) and to appoint a special task force to re-evaluate US positions in international trade negotiations as they relate to public health matters.

The letter from Mr Nader, who runs the Center for the Study of Responsive Law in Washington, DC, and CSRL colleagues James Love and Robert Weissman, notes that in launching the trade actions, US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky "has erred for two reasons. First, for public health and competitive reasons, the US government should not support artificial barriers to the introduction of generic versions of unpatented drugs. Second, it is inappropriate for the USA to punish Argentine consumers for plainly legal advocacy efforts undertaken by Argentine private-sector domestic drug companies, who are simply seeking to protect their interests in worldwide forums on rules for intellectual property."

The crux of the US complaint rests on the fact that Argentina's new legislation dealing with health registration data, passed on December 18, 1997, permits local competitors to rely on the innovator's test data when seeking marketing approval, says the letter, adding that Argentina has agreed to keep this data confidential.