June 22, 2007 (LPAC) Rep. Henry A. Waxman and 34 colleagues issued a letter June 20th to Amb. Susan C. Schwab, U.S. Trade Representative, urging her to reexamine the Administration's decision to put Thailand on a "Priority Watch List" because of steps taken by the Thai government to secure generic versions of three drugs for its citizens. The letter states that "in doing so," the Thai government "was acting within its international rights and obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property, as specifically affirmed by the United States and other nations in the Doha Declaration." Thailand has been subjected to a massive campaign of lies and slanders by neo-conservatives linked to the pharmaceutical industry since December, when they exercised their legal and moral right to put the lives of their citizens above the drug companies' profits by purchasing generics (see article here). Thailand has a model program for HIV/AIDS treatment, and since 2003, the national health program, which covers all Thai citizens including nearly 600,000 living with HIV/AIDS, has provided broad access to anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs at almost no cost.

The Waxman letter states: "This response runs counter to the United States' obligation to respect the rights of all nations to implement their intellectual property rules in a way that is supportive of public health. We urge you to adhere to this principle and reassess U.S. policy toward Thailand to reflect this commitment."

It concludes that, "USTR's treatment of Thailand in the Special 301 calls into question the United States' commitment to the Doha Declaration... [which] states that intellectual property obligations should be `interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of WTO members' right to protect public health, and in particular, to promote access to medicine for all.'