Jackson's bill would forbid the Clinton administration to retaliate against any African country that tried to use certain trade provisions to obtain cheaper AIDS drugs. Health and consumer groups have criticized the Clinton administration for pressuring developing countries on behalf of drug companies to abandon trade approaches that could help them obtain cheaper medications. Drug makers and U.S. officials say the trade powers these countries might use violate patent rights and would hurt companies' ability to invest in future AIDS drugs. The trade powers include compulsory licensing and parallel importing. The first, legal under World Trade Organization rules, allows countries to grant a local company authority to make cheaper, generic versions of drugs even while the products are still protected by patents.
Parallel imports let countries buy drugs through third parties at lower prices.
A drug industry spokesman said pharmaceutical companies opposed compulsory licenses to protect patents on AIDS drugs that cost hundreds of millions of dollars apiece to develop. The disputed trade powers have become a rallying point for AIDS groups that say the gap is growing between those who can afford medications and those who cannot. About a dozen protesters refused police orders to disperse. A Washington police spokesman could not immediately say whether any had been arrested. Always watch for outdated information.