In a Jan. 17 letter to 22 members of Congress about Thailand’s move to override patents of brand-name drugs and allow low-cost generics, Susan Schwab writes the U.S. has “taken care to respect fully the Thai government’s ability to issue compulsory licenses” and has “not suggested that Thailnd has failed to comply with particular national or international rules.”

In other words, Thailand didn’t do anything wrong. But some members of Congress, prodded by Doctors Without Borders and other activist groups, worry aloud that the U.S. government will meddle on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry.

Her letter doesn’t quite put to rest those concerns.

“The USTR is also signaling that it will continue to pressure Thailand, despite having agreed to the 2001 Doha Declaration, and the obvious problems of access caused by the high prices on these drugs,” says Ben Krohmal at Knowledge Ecology International.

The fracas is only beginning. The question is to what extent, if any, should the USTR get involved, especially after acknowleding Thailand didn’t thumb its nose at WTO rules?

[tags]Compulsory Licenses, Generics, Thailand, US Trade Rep[/tags]