II 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Free Trade 

5 in Pharmaceuticals Act of 2005’’. 
2 

•S 1551 IS

1 SEC. 2. PHARMACEUTICAL IMPORTS; OBJECTIVES IN NEGO2 TIATION OF TRADE AGREEMENTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2102(a) of the Bipartisan 

4 Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002 (19 U.S.C. 

5 3802(a)) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

7 (8); 

8 (2) by striking the period at the end of para9 graph (9) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(10) to avoid negotiating trade agreements 

12 that could restrict, or be interpreted to restrict, the 

13 access of consumers in the United States to pharma14 ceutical imports from countries with a pharma15 ceutical infrastructure that is equivalent, or supe16 rior, to that of the United States— 

17 ‘‘(A) by or through the use and develop18 ment of the doctrine of international patent ex19 haustion, as interpreted or applied by United 

20 States courts on the date of enactment of this 

21 Act; or 

22 ‘‘(B) by making it a violation for the 

23 United States to enact legislation permitting 

24 pharmaceutical imports without the consent of 

25 patent owners when the products involved have 

26 been sold outside the United States.’’. 
3 

•S 1551 IS

1 (b) CERTAIN PROHIBITIONS.—Notwithstanding any 

2 other provision of law, the United States Trade Represent3 ative— 

4 (1) may not enter into a bilateral or multilat5 eral trade agreement that, with respect to the impor6 tation of pharmaceutical products without the con7 sent of the patent owners, includes provisions that 

8 are the same or similar to the provisions of— 

9 (A) paragraph 2 of Article 16.7 of the 

10 United States-Singapore Free Trade Agree11 ment; 

12 (B) paragraph 4 of Article 17.9 of the 

13 United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement; 

14 or 

15 (C) paragraph 4 of Article 15.9 of the 

16 United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement; 

17 and 

18 (2) may not, with respect to the importation of 

19 pharmaceutical products without the consent of the 

20 patent owners, negotiate an agreement or under21 standing with respect to any of the provisions re22 ferred to in paragraph (1). 

23 (c) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY; ADVISORY COM24 MITTEE FOR UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTA25 TIVE.—With respect to the advisory committee established 
4 

•S 1551 IS

1 to provide advice to the United States Trade Representa2 tive on matters relating to intellectual property, the Rep3 resentative shall ensure that, for each meeting that is held 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act and relates 

5 or potentially relates to the importation of pharmaceutical 

6 products into the United States— 

7 (1) the membership of the committee includes 

8 members who represent the interests of consumers 

9 of such products; and 

10 (2) the number of such members constitutes not 

11 less than 10 percent of the membership of the com12 mittee. 

Æ