National Association of Manufacturers told USTR the EU position on LDC extension made a mockery of international trading system

On September 10, 2015, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), wrote to USTR expressing alarm at the European Union support of an indefinite extension of a WTO waiver of obligations to grant patents on pharmaceuticals for UN defined least developed countries (LDCs). In 2015, there were 954 million persons living in LDCs, with a per capita income of $964, according to the World Bank. The EU had aligned itself with health advocates trying to protect the bottom billion access to life saving medicines.

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FOIA regarding General Electric’s lobbying of USTR to oppose WIPO Treaty for the Blind.

We just received a reply from a September 17, 2013 FOIA request KEI filed with USTR, asking for correspondence involving General Electric’s efforts to block the WIPO Treaty for the Blind. USTR provided 24 pages of documents, available here:

/wp-content/uploads/FOIA-GE-Treaty-for-Blind.pdf

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GE’s Thaddeus Burns wrote to US Ambassador Betty King requesting US postpone Marrakesh Diplomatic Conference

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Thaddeus Burns of GE spent months trying to derail the WIPO treaty for the blind negotiations
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The letter opposing the treaty for the blind was signed by TABC Director General Tim Bennett

We just ran across this mean spirited letter by the Trans-Atlantic Business Council (TABC), a group that describes itself as follows:

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