CAFTA

Central American Free Trade Agreement

CAFTA Text

IP Chapter

Implementation Legislation in CAFTA Countries

April 7, 2006. Representatives Kucinich, Michaud, Grijalva, Lee, Waters, Brown, Evans, Stark, and Allen. Letter to USTR Concerning CAFTA Implementation in Guatemala.
November 16, 2005. Document given to Guatemalan government by the USTR. Preliminary List of Implementation Deficiencies: Guatemala.
News Stories.
- January 11, 2006. Tom Ricker and Burke Stansbury for Common Dreams. Bush Administration Using Implementation of CAFTA Agreement to Further Expand Corporate Rights in Central America.

Government Documents

July 28, 2005. White House Press Release. President Proud of House Action to Pass CAFTA-DR Agreement.

July 21, 2005. Dear Colleage Letter by Rep. Henry Waxman. Under CAFTA, Poor Countries Would Wait Longer Than the U.S. for Generic Drugs.
USTR Documents
- Main USTR Page on CAFTA
- July 27, 2005. Statement of USTR Rob Portman On House Passage of CAFTA-DR.
- June 20, 2005. Statement of USTR Rob Portman regarding Senate passage of CAFTA-DR and House Ways and Means Approval.
- February, 2005. CAFTA and Access to Medicines. Also, see the Health GAP response to this document.
- May 28, 2004. United States and Central America Sign Historic Free Trade Agreement.
- May 25, 2004. Highlights of the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement.
- January 25, 2004. U.S. and Costa Rica Reach Agreement on Free Trade: Costa Rica Will Join Recently Concluded Central American Trade Pact.
- December 17, 2003. U.S. & Central American Countries Conclude Historic Free Trade Agreement.
- December 17, 2003. Summary of the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement.
Congressional Documents
- Rep. Sherrod Brown's Extensive Page on CAFTA
- July 21, 2005. Dear Colleage Letter by Rep. Henry Waxman. Under CAFTA, Poor Countries Would Wait Longer Than the U.S. for Generic Drugs.
- June 9, 2005. House Committee on Government Reform - Minority Staff. Special Investigations Division. Report prepared for Rep. Henry Waxman. Trade Agreements and Access to Medications Under the Bush Administration.
- June 9, 2005. Press release from Henry Waxman. CAFTA Hinders Developing Nations' Access to Needed Medicines.
- May 4, 2005. Reps. Brown, Waxman, and Allen. "Dear Colleague" letter to other Members of Congress. Think Prescription Drug Prices Are Too Low? CAFTA Can Help.
- April 21, 2005. Rep. Sherrod Brown. Excerpt from testimony before the Ways and Means Committee.
- January 26, 2005. Congressional letter to Robert Zoellick on the data exclusivity provisions in CAFTA.
- September 30, 2004. Letter from 12 Representatives to President Bush on the IP provisions of CAFTA. The letter is also available in Spanish.
- May 27, 2004. Reps. Rangel, Levin and Becerra. Statement on the Signing of the U.S-Central America Free Trade Agreement.
- December 10, 2003. Reps. Henry Waxman, Charles Rangel and Sander Levin. letter to Robert Zoellick.
- January 8, 2003. Statement from Rep. Kolbe Regarding the Launch of CAFTA Negotiations.
April 13, 2005. Statement of Otton Solis, former Costa Rican Minister of Planning and Economic Policy and current presidential candidate.
March 11, 2003. John R. Hamilton, US Ambassador to Guatemala. Speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Guatemala.

NGO Documents

February, 2007. Report from Costa Rica denouncing conflict of interest between FTAs supporters and pharmaceutical companies (in Spanish). Conflict of Interest Report.
June 2, 2005. Joint statement by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Agencia Binacional Familiar, Bienestar Human Services, Inc., and Siempre Unidos. US & Latin American AIDS Advocates Blast CAFTA’s Anti-Generic Drug Provisions.
April, 2005. Roman Macaya for the National Chamber of Generic Products. The Economic and Social Consequences of an Overprotection of Intellectual Property Rights in CAFTA.

March 8, 2005. Berte Chete for the Association Gente Positiva. Intellectual Property & Access to Medicines in Guatemala.
Essential Action
- March 18, 2005. Robert Weissman and Russell Mokhiber. Global Bully Goes to Guatemala.
- March 5, 2004. Robert Weissman. Dying for Drugs: How CAFTA Will Undermine Access to Essential Medicines.
- December 17, 2003. Statement of Robert Weissman, Co-Director, Essentail Action on the CAFTA Negotiations and Access to Medicines.
Medecins Sans Frontieres
- April 21, 2005. Testimony on IP Provisions in DR-CAFTA & Consequences for Access to Essential Medicines.
- March 11, 2005. Press release. New Guatemalan Law and Intellectual Property Provisions in DR-CAFTA Threaten Access to Affordable Medicines.
- February 2005. MSF Briefing note. Data Exclusivity & Access to Medicines in Guatemala. Available in html, or in a MS Word format.
- November 26, 2004. Press release. Guatemalan Congress Repeals Law That Restricted Access to Medicines.
- May 28, 2004. Press release. MSF Warns That Signing US-Central American Trade Agreement Threatens Access to Life-Saving Medicines.
- March 5, 2004. Ellen 't Hoen for Medecins Sans Frontieres. Letter to Pascal Lamy on FTAs and access to medicines.
- February 3, 2004. Provisions in CAFTA Restrict Access to Medicines: Latin American and Caribbean Countries Urged Not to Include Such Provisions in FTAA.
- December 13, 2003. US Pressure Threatening Access to Medicines in Central America.
- October 21, 2003. Letter from Nicolas de Torrente and Lius Villa of MSF to Latin American negotiators. This letter is also available in Spanish.
- October 15, 20003. Letter from Nicolas de Torrente and Lius Villa of MSF to Robert Zoellick.
Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health
- July 28, 2005. CAFTA's Bad Bill of Health.
- May 10, 2005. Ellen Schaffer's op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News. The health costs of CAFTA.
- April 21, 2005. Testimony before the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives. DR-CAFTA Undermines Affordable Medicines; Pharmaceutical Industry’s Role on USTR Advisory Committees.
- September 30, 2004. CAFTA Side Letter Does Not Protect Access to Medicines.
- April, 2004. CAFTA Undermines Affordable Medicines - Pharma's Role on USTR Advisory Committees.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Health GAP
- February 10, 2005. Health GAP Policy Brief. Myths and Realities: U.S. Pressure on Guatemala Regarding Data Exclusivity, CAFTA and Access to Medicines. This is in response to a USTR document on the subject.
- May 28, 2004. Central America Trade Deal Trades Away Access to Low Cost AIDS Medicines.
- December 17, 2003. Sick people lose out in U.S.-Central American trade deal finalized today.
- December 8, 2003. Health GAP. The Central America Free Trade Agreement, Access to AIDS Medicines, and Intellectual Property.
- December 5, 2003. Health GAP. People with AIDS Held for Ransom by Bush's CAFTA: White House pushes for more drug company protectionism in Central America.
Oxfam
Intellectual Property Watch
- April 1, 2005. William New for IP-Watch. Drug Patents Still At Issue In U.S.-Central America Trade Deal.
- March 1, 2005. William New. Clash Continues On U.S.-Central America Trade Deal.
- November 4, 2004. Isabelle Scherer. The Domino Effect of US FTAs: Public Health Groups, Members of Congress claim CAFTA will choke Access to Medicines.
Global AIDS Alliance
- July 28, 2005. Vote for CAFTA a Betrayal of People Living with AIDS, Says Global AIDS Alliance.
- July 21, 2005. AIDS Experts Oppose CAFTA Agreement - Treaty Will Block Access to Affordable Medicine.
June 23, 2005. American Jewish World Service. AJWS Announces Opposition to CAFTA.
April 21, 2005. Amnesty International. Guatemala: Government must demonstrate political will to improve human rights .
March 8, 2005. Berte Chete for the Association Gente Positiva. Intellectual Property & Access to Medicines in Guatemala.
November 30, 2004. World Campaign Against the Trading Away of Health and Life. Latin American Activists Denounce the Policies and Practices Used in the Negotiation of Free trade Agreements Between the United States and Latin American Countries.
April 27, 2004. Joy Spencer for CPTech. CAFTA IP provisions and their effect on access to medicines.
April 22, 2004. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. CAFTA Benefits Agribusiness Over Farmers - Agreement Would Erode Fair Trade and Farmers' Rights.
February, 2004. 3D->Trade-Human Rights-Equitable Economy briefing submitted to Ecuador's Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). The impact of international trade agreements regulating intellectual property rights on access to medicines and the fulfillment of children's rights.
March, 2003. Margaret Swedish for the Bimonthly Journal of the Religious Task Force on Central America and Mexico. CAFTA negotiators complete second round.
November 19, 2002. Thea Lee from the AFL-CIO. Comments on the Proposed US-Central America Free Trade Agreement.

Official Groups That Advise USTR

March 22, 2004. Industry Functional Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property (IFAC-3) report to USTR. Includes staff from Pfizer, Lilly, PhRMA, and Merck.
March 19, 2004. Industry Sector Advisory Committee for Chemicals and Allied Products (ISAC-3) report to USTR. Includes staff from DuPont, PhRMA, Lilly and Schering-Plough.

PhRMA Documents

June 14, 2005. Developing Countries Gain Access To More Medicines Under CAFTA.

Excerpt on CAFTA from PhRMA's Submission to the USTR for the 2003 Special 301 Report

The U.S-Central America Free Trade Agreement will considerably upgrade the level of IP protection in the region. Provisions on data protection, patent term restoration, linkage and patentability will provide a better framework for investment and improve patient’s access to medicines.
However, the Agreement must be first approved by the Congresses in the United States and the countries in the region and adequately implemented. PhRMA urges that countries that are part of the agreement extend a stand still on TRIPS violations, particularly the failure to protect test data. Health authorities have continually relied on innovators’ data in order to authorize copies into the market for many years in clear violation of Trips Article 39.3.
Of great concern is the apparent disregard of industrial property rights. Health Authorities do not request any information regarding existing patents when market approval files for copies are submitted. Within the custom union’s process, the current provision in force could lead to marketing approval in one country being granted without any consideration to existing patents in the country applying for mutual recognition.

News Stories

February 8, 2006. John McPhaul fro Reuters. Costa Rica election another blow to US trade pact.
February 7, 2006. Marla Dickerson and Evelyn Iritani for the Los Angeles Times. Trade Accord With U.S. Splits Voters in Costa Rica.
August 6, 2005. John Zarocostas for the British Journal of Medicine. Trade agreement may restrict supply of essential drugs in Central America, experts say.
July 28, 2005. Associated Press. In Bush win, House narrowly approves CAFTA.
July 28, 2005. Kaiser News Network. House Passes CAFTA; Bush Expected To Sign Pact; HIV/AIDS Advocates Say Agreement Could Threaten Treatment Access.
Juloy 28, 2005. Rick Klein for the Boston Globe. House passes free-trade agreement in tight vote.
July 26, 2005. Jim Lobe for the Inter Press Service. Activists See CAFTA as Gift to Big Pharma.
July 26, 2005. Jim Abrams for the Washington Post. CAFTA Supporters Gain Some Votes.
July 25, 2005. Rebecca Adams for the Congressional Quarterly. 'Big Pharma' vs. Generic In CAFTA Drug War.
July 21, 2005. Jonathan Weinstein for the Washington Post. Administration Trying to Build CAFTA Majority Vote by Vote.
July 11, 2005. Ruth M. Heifetz for the San Diego Union Tribune. CAFTA Blocks Access to Medicines.
July 9, 2005. Rep. Pete Stark's letter to the editor of the Washington Post. A Clear Choice on CAFTA.
July 3, 2005. Stephanie Saul for the New York Times. Drug Lobby Got a Victory in Trade Pact Vote.
July 3, 2005. David Armstrong for the San Francisco Chronicle. CAFTA friends, foes state their case on free trade deal - Central America pact goes to House after OK by Senate.
July 1, 2005. Paul Blustein for the Washington Post. CAFTA Wins Approval from Senate.
June 17, 2005. Inside U.S. Trade. Waxman, Generic Pharmaceutical Group Criticize FTA IPR Provisions.
June 15, 2005. Reuters. House panel gives preliminary approval to CAFTA.
June 12, 2005. Thomas B. Edsall for the Washington Post. CAFTA in Peril on Capitol Hill - One Business Leader Gives Lawmakers an Ultimatum.
May 26, 2005. Sophie Walker for Reuters. Vote now on CAFTA or ditch it, say lawmakers.
May 26, 2005. Rahul Rajkumar for the Boston Globe. CAFTA Will Hurt People With HIV. `
May 25, 2005. Kelly Hearn for AlterNet. Drug Deal.
May 3, 2005. John Lyons for the Wall Street Journal. Costa Rica Balks At Free-Trade Pact - Misgivings Could Weaken Support in U.S. Congress For Central America Deal.
April 22, 2005. Marla Dickerson and Evelyn Iritani for the L.A. Times. AIDS Patients See Life, Death Issues in Trade Pact.
April 21, 2005. Geoff Earle for The Hill. Showdown looms as hearings on CAFTA begin in the House.
March 30, 2005. Frank Jack Daniel for Reuters. Guatemalan HIV patients slam new trade rules.
March 30, 2005. Op-ed by Harold Meyerson for the Washington Post. CAFTA's Profit Motive.
March 11, 2005. Sergio de Leon for the Associated Press. Guatemala votes to ratify free trade pact.
March 11, 2005. Voice of America. Guatemala Ratifies Trade Pact with US.
March 9, 2005. Reuters. Guatemala protests delay trade pact with U.S.
February 2, 2005. Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest. US Pressures Guatemala to Strengthen Data Protection Rules.
January 14, 2005. Inside U.S. Trade. USTR Increases Pressure on Guatemala to Drop Data Protection Law.
January 10, 2005. Inside U.S. Trade. USTR Summons CAFTA Governments For Meeting On Guatemala Law
August 27, 2004. Evelyn Iritanie for the L.A. Times. Latino leaders not united on CAFTA: Free trade brings argument of more wealth or despair.
August 20, 2004. Gregg Harrington for the Columbian. Look What's Hidden in CAFTA.
August 5, 2004. Op-ed by Angelina Godoy and Cameron Herrington in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Health care difficult in Central America.
May 29, 2004. Martin Crutsinger for the Associated Press. CAFTA: Free trade deal draws bipartisan criticism.
May 28, 2004. Reuters. U.S., Central America sign CAFTA - Contentious free trade pact draws fire from Kerry. May 27, 2004. Doug Palmer for Reuters. Bush administration eyes "lame duck" vote on CAFTA.
May 27, 2004. Emad McKay for the Inter Press Service. Opponents Predict Defeat for Central American Trade Deal.
December 18, 2003. Neil King Jr. for the Wall Street Journal. U.S. Reaches a Trade Agreement With 4 Central American Nations.
December 17, 2003. Doug Palmer for Reuters. Central American Nations Reach Trade Deal.
December 17, 2003. Martin Crutsinger for the Associated Press. U.S., Central American Nations Reach Trade Deal.
December 17, 2003. Martin Crutsinger for the Associated Press. Bush faces tough congressional battle over Central American free trade deal.
December 17, 2003. Bloomberg. Central American trade deal moves forward.
December 17, 2003. Jonathan Weisman for the Washington Post. Accord Reached On Free Trade: Hill Fight Likely Over U.S. Pact With Central Americans.
December 17, 2003. Edward Alden for the Financial Times. US in trade deal with Central American nations.
December 15, 2003. Martin Crutsinger for the Associated Press. U.S., five Central American countries trying to wrap up free trade pact.
December 9, 2003. Reuters. As agreement nears, CAFTA foes plot to kill pact.
December 9, 2003. Doreen Hemlock for the South Florida Sun-Sentinal. Central America takes spotlight with trade deal, presidential conference.
December 9, 2003. Jane Bussey for Knight-Ridder. Economic, political pressures threaten hemispheric trade agreement.
December 8, 2003. Emad Mekay for the Inter-Press Service. U.S.-Central America Deal Could Block Cheap AIDS Drugs.
October 24, 2003. Editorial in the Houston Chronicle. CAFTA: Give world's poor, sick access to generic medicines.
October 1, 2003. Jeffrey Sparshott for the Washington Times. Zoellick starts tour to negotiate CAFTA.
March 6, 2003. News Summary by the Gale Group, published on U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica's website. Region Rudely Awakened in CAFTA Second Round.

Note: Data exclusivity law in Guatemala repealed Nov. 19, 2004.

CAFTA country profiles published in the CIA World Factbook

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