Today at the eighth round of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations in Chicago, IL, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a white paper outlining a new USTR strategic initiative entitled “Trade Enhancing Access to Medicines (TEAM).” TEAM is designed to deploy the tools of trade policy to promote trade and reduce obstacles to access to both innovative and generic medicines, while supporting the innovation that is vital to developing new medicines and achieving other medical breakthroughs. The paper can be found here. Comments from USAID can be found here.
A number of negotiating groups held talks today on issues including horizontal issues, labor, rules of origin, competition, non-conforming measures, intellectual property rights, and capacity building. The Chicago round of TPP talks is expected to conclude on September 15.
