I was on Capitol Hill tonight and met a number of Members of Congress who were quite aware of this dispute. I found this surprising, and encouraging. On its face, this is a clear statement in support of compulsory licensing and parallel imports as mechanisms to broaden access to essential medicines in Africa, and one assumes, other developing countries. However, our enthusiasm is restrained by the way that this support is qualified. Consider the relatively straightforward case of parallel imports.
Parallel imports involve cross border trade in goods, without the consent of the manufacturer.
This may occur where a drug company charge different prices in different countries. If the US government permitted parallel imports of pharmaceuticals, US consumers could buy Claritin from Canadian suppliers, or from suppliers in Spain, France or other countries where the prices are lower. This is what the government of South Africa wants to permit. South Africa wants to buy drugs at the best world price. This is important for South Africa, where local markets are not particularly competitive.