[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1551 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1551

To clarify that the overall trade negotiating objectives of the United 
 States include avoiding provisions in trade agreements that restrict 
the access of consumers in the United States to pharmaceutical imports, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 28, 2005

 Mr. Vitter (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. McCain) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                                Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To clarify that the overall trade negotiating objectives of the United 
 States include avoiding provisions in trade agreements that restrict 
the access of consumers in the United States to pharmaceutical imports, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Free Trade in 
Pharmaceuticals Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. PHARMACEUTICAL IMPORTS; OBJECTIVES IN NEGOTIATION OF TRADE 
              AGREEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 2102(a) of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion 
Authority Act of 2002 (19 U.S.C. 3802(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (8);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (9) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(10) to avoid negotiating trade agreements that could 
        restrict, or be interpreted to restrict, the access of 
        consumers in the United States to pharmaceutical imports from 
        countries with a pharmaceutical infrastructure that is 
        equivalent, or superior, to that of the United States--
                    ``(A) by or through the use and development of the 
                doctrine of international patent exhaustion, as 
                interpreted or applied by United States courts on the 
                date of enactment of this Act; or
                    ``(B) by making it a violation for the United 
                States to enact legislation permitting pharmaceutical 
                imports without the consent of patent owners when the 
                products involved have been sold outside the United 
                States.''.
    (b) Certain Prohibitions.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, the United States Trade Representative--
            (1) may not enter into a bilateral or multilateral trade 
        agreement that, with respect to the importation of 
        pharmaceutical products without the consent of the patent 
        owners, includes provisions that are the same or similar to the 
        provisions of--
                    (A) paragraph 2 of Article 16.7 of the United 
                States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement;
                    (B) paragraph 4 of Article 17.9 of the United 
                States-Australia Free Trade Agreement; or
                    (C) paragraph 4 of Article 15.9 of the United 
                States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement; and
            (2) may not, with respect to the importation of 
        pharmaceutical products without the consent of the patent 
        owners, negotiate an agreement or understanding with respect to 
        any of the provisions referred to in paragraph (1).
    (c) Intellectual Property; Advisory Committee for United States 
Trade Representative.--With respect to the advisory committee 
established to provide advice to the United States Trade Representative 
on matters relating to intellectual property, the Representative shall 
ensure that, for each meeting that is held after the date of the 
enactment of this Act and relates or potentially relates to the 
importation of pharmaceutical products into the United States--
            (1) the membership of the committee includes members who 
        represent the interests of consumers of such products; and
            (2) the number of such members constitutes not less than 10 
        percent of the membership of the committee.
                                 <all>