Photo: smh.com.au

(VOVworld) – A dozen Pacific nations closed in on a free trade pact on Sunday in Atlanta after a breakthrough over how long a monopoly pharmaceutical companies should be given on new biotech drugs, reached by the US and Australia.

The issue has pitted the United States, which has argued for longer protections, against Australia and five other delegations who say such measures would strain national healthcare budgets and keep life-saving medicines from patients who cannot afford them.

The compromise would preserve Australia’s existing five-year protection period but would also offer flexibility on longer drug monopolies, potentially creating two tracks on future drug pricing within the trading bloc.

The terms of that compromise, hammered out after a third all-night round of negotiations between Australia and the United States, still had to find support from other nations such as Chile and Peru.

The talks in Atlanta were extended by 24 hours to a fifth day on Sunday. By Saturday, the United States and Japan reached agreement in principle on trade in autos and auto parts in talks that had also included Canada and Mexico. That agreement is expected to give US automakers, led by General Motors and Ford, two decades or more of tariff protection against low-cost pickup truck imports from Thailand or elsewhere in Asia.

New Zealand wants to ensure its dairy industry, dominated by Fonterra, the world’s largest dairy exporter, comes out as a clear winner in a TPP deal by opening markets like Canada, Mexico, Japan and the United States.