The Trans-Pacific Partnership may officially be dead yet a looming free trade battle remains in the Pacific Rim.
In March, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership concluded its 17th round of talks. RCEP is a five-year-old proposed trade agreement between 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, like India, China, and Laos and six states, like Japan and Australia, that have existing free trade agreements in the region. It’s essentially comprised of TPP nations, without the Americas and the United States.
RCEP trading partners represent 30 percent of global GDP and about half of the world’s population. As the talks continue, global health activists are alarmed. Like the TPP, the pharmaceutical industry has a lot at stake in this deal. So do much of the world’s poor.
Today the world’s largest pharmaceutical corporations dictate the way their products come to market. They sculpt global free trade.
Indeed, one of the most contentious parts of the TPP was providing excessive market protections for American drug companies and their allies. Nations push Big Pharma’s agendas, likely to curry favor with the industry […]
Interesting article. I’m kind of curious though, is an agreement between the nations and states mentioned in this article really worth its weight? Is there any chance that this kind of deal could backfire on big pharm? It’s one thing in the US, where we now have subsidies from ACA and other programs that offset some high medicine costs, but perhaps the countries and states in this agreement might not be as easy to manipulate. I guess what I’m getting at is, without the US being in the trade agreement, would the success of the agreement be less likely over the long haul, especially if it has negative health outcomes? Just curious what you think.