Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy release a new GAO report that finds that U.S. trade policy under the Bush Administration has paid little to no attention to public health and access to medicines.

The GAO report, “Intellectual property: U.S. Trade Policy Guidance on WTO Declaration on Access to Medicines May Need Clarification,” assesses how the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (U.S.T.R.), along with other agencies, has interpreted and implemented the 2002 Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) Act, which affirmed the United States’ commitment to the Doha Declaration. The report indicates that until the current congressional leadership negotiated public health modifications to pending free trade agreements, U.S.T.R. made virtually no changes in its trade strategy to advance the goals of the Doha Declaration. It further finds that the Bush Administration entered into a series of free trade negotiations with developing countries demanding provisions that threaten the ability of our trade partners to take necessary public health measures. These provisions, found in CAFTA and other FTAs already in effect, could significantly delay the availability of lower-cost generic medicines.