Ottawa, September 22, 2017 – The Presidents of the Association for Accessible Medicines (United States), the Mexican Association of Generic Medicines (Mexico), and the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association and Biosimilars Canada (Canada) sent a letter to NAFTA Chief Negotiators last week outlining their collective priorities for the negotiations.

The North American generic and biosimilar medicines industries are encouraging NAFTA negotiators to pursue a regulatory agenda aimed at increasing consistency in regulatory requirements between jurisdictions, which would creating efficiencies for regulators and the pharmaceutical sector and help to foster and facilitate increased trade in pharmaceuticals in North America.

The North American generic and biosimilar medicines industries are also calling on NAFTA negotiators to stand firm against the inclusion of intellectual property measures that would erect new barriers to timely access to affordable medicines for patients in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

“NAFTA negotiators must focus on measures to help foster and facilitate the increased trade in medicines in North America, and must not erect new barriers to trade that will result in delayed access to cost-saving medications for patients,” said Jim Keon, President of the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association and Biosimilars Canada. “Generic and biosimilar medicines provide tremendous value for patients. The use of generic medicines saved North American patients, governments, and private insurers over $300 billion in 2016 alone.”