In addition, the President and USTR should use this authority to continue to pursue bilateral trade agreements in the medical technology sector with our major trading partners. AdvaMed believes the USTR, Department of Commerce and Congress should monitor regulatory, technology assessment and reimbursement policies in foreign health care systems and push for the creation or maintenance of transparent assessment processes and the opportunity for industry participation in decision making. New Technologies A primary goal of all economies is to provide high quality, cost effective healthcare products and services to all citizens. The mission, and sovereign right, of a government's regulatory agency is to oversee the efforts of medical technology manufacturers to ensure that their products are safe and effective. Establish meaningful appeals processes.
Many countries maintain significant tariff and nontariff barriers to trade for medical technology.
Such barriers represent a self-imposed and unnecessary tax that substantially increases both the cost of health care to their own citizens. Such barriers also delay the introduction of new cost-effective, medically beneficial treatments. As a result, regional forums are striving to enhance market access for a number of important sectors. USTR should take strides to ensure ATL and non-tariff barrier reduction initiatives developed under APEC reach fruition via the appropriate trade forum. Moreover, a new WTO round should be seen as an opportunity to improve access to new medical technology on a global basis.