BIO Submits Comments on USTR's 2022 Special 301 Review
January 31, 2022
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) appreciates the opportunity to participate in the 2022 Special 301 Review: Identification of Countries under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974: Request for Public Comment and Announcement of Public Hearing. We hope our contribution will assist the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) efforts in strengthening President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda by preserving strong intellectual property (IP) protections for United States’ innovators, companies and workers internationally.
The annual Special 301 Review presents a key opportunity for the U.S.-based innovative biotechnology research community to share with USTR and the broader U.S. Government interagency stakeholders the main intellectual property (IP) challenges in trading partner countries abroad that harm the competitiveness of our member companies and their workers. The examples provided throughout this submission of the absence of adequate and effective protection of U.S. IP rights serve to illustrate how the ability of U.S.-based biotech enterprises, collectively employing over 1.87 million workers in the United States,1 that rely heavily on their IP rights to export and operate overseas is frustrated by certain policies put in place by key trading partners.
BIO and BIO members are urging lawmakers to enact a short-term extension of the MCM-PRV program while Congress is waiting to address a full reauthorization with PAHPA.
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) appreciates the opportunity to participate in the 2022 Special 301 Review: Identification of Countries under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974: Request for Public Comment and Announcement of Public Hearing. We hope our contribution will assist the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) efforts in strengthening President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda by preserving strong intellectual property (IP) protections for United States’ innovators, companies and workers internationally.
The annual Special 301 Review presents a key opportunity for the U.S.-based innovative biotechnology research community to share with USTR and the broader U.S. Government interagency stakeholders the main intellectual property (IP) challenges in trading partner countries abroad that harm the competitiveness of our member companies and their workers. The examples provided throughout this submission of the absence of adequate and effective protection of U.S. IP rights serve to illustrate how the ability of U.S.-based biotech enterprises, collectively employing over 1.87 million workers in the United States,1 that rely heavily on their IP rights to export and operate overseas is frustrated by certain policies put in place by key trading partners.