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LatinNews Daily - 03 October 2018
In brief: Mexico
* The Mexican association of pharmaceutical laboratories (Amelaf), a business sector lobby, has warned that the new trilateral trade agreement reached by the Mexican, US, and Canadian governments (USMCA) to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) will negatively impact Mexico’s economy. According to Amelaf director, Juan de Villafranca, the terms of the USMCA, which include stronger patent protections for pharmaceutical products, would result in costs of up to M$15bn (US$798m) for the Mexican economy in the next five years. De Villafranca said that the provision extending pharmaceutical patents to 10 years (up from the current five) will result in biotechnological, retroviral, and oncological products - which include things such as the drugs used to treat cancer and HIV - being more expensive, as it would prevent Mexican pharmaceutical producers from making cheaper generic substitute products. De Villafranca called for this issue to be closely analysed by Mexico’s senate before it ratifies the USMCA.
