The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) joined the U.S. Trade Representative in praising the government of Jordan for its unprecedented efforts to provide intellectual property protection for patented pharmaceutical products, a statement by PhRMA said.
For the first time since 1995, PhRMA did not submit a report on Jordan under "Special 301" provisions of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, as amended. After careful review, PhRMA concluded that Jordan continues to act in good faith to comply with its WTO obligations. Previously, Jordan had been listed as a "Watch" country, but PhRMA supported U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky's decision in December to remove Jordan from the list, based on substantial new progress achieved over the last year. Through the annual "Special 301" review process, U.S. industries advise the government about the world's most serious intellectual property offenders.
The report examines practices of trade partners that jeopardize adequate and effective intellectual property protection, or market access for U.S. persons or corporations that rely on intellectual property protection. Inclusion in the "Special 301" report establishes intellectual property issues as a priority in bilateral discussions between the U.S. and the designated country.
PhRMA assistant vice president, international, Susan King Finston, noted that "Jordan is steadily creating a more attractive climate for investment, technology transfer and economic growth, and we fully support and applaud the government's courageous reform program." Finston continued that PhRMA was confident Jordan would fully meet its WTO obligations by April 2nd. "Jordan is taking important steps to amend its current patent law, and ensure that it is fully compliant with WTO/TRIPs requirements. We understand that there will be an important amendment that protects commercial data from unfair use, a key WTO obligation very important to the research pharmaceutical industry." "PhRMA member companies recognize the role of legitimate generic pharmaceutical, where products meet the same quality standards as innovative products and do not infringe on current patents," said Finston.
"Our concern was that local companies were making unauthorized copies of our latest innovations under the old law. The latest amendments to ensure good patents are the kinds of steps that encourage investment, technology transfer, and greater spending from research intensive companies."
Recent studies, including two by the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank, have shown that investment in the pharmaceutical sector depends on the quality of a country's intellectual property regime. Surveys of American, German and Japanese pharmaceutical and chemical companies have demonstrated that investors will avoid investing, research, manufacturing and licensing in countries that lack effective intellectual property protection. "Because research-based industries view strong patent protection as an important benchmark when evaluating a country's commercial climate, Jordan's new IP regime will make it an attractive target for direct investment and technology transfer," said Finston.
"For our part," she concluded, PhRMA will monitor the situation in the coming months, and may plan an industry meeting in Amman for December 2000 to enable U.S. companies to meet with interested Jordanian firms. We hope that other countries in the region will follow in the footsteps of Jordan's ambitious reform effort." PhRMA represents America's leading research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to lead longer, happier, healthier and more productive lives. Investing more than $ 26 billion in 1999 in discovering and developing new medicines, PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures.