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ALEXANDRIA, VA – President Biden has nominated María Pagán to serve as Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) staunchly opposes Ms. Pagán’s confirmation as she has been hostile to the protection of vital intellectual property rights, specifically with her advocacy in support of waiving provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for COVID vaccines, diagnostics and treatments. As the U.S. Senate prepares to consider her confirmation, CFIF President Jeffrey Mazzella issued the following statement:
"Strong intellectual property (IP) protections, including patent protections, explain why the United States stands unrivaled as the most inventive, prosperous and powerful nation in human history. For example, the U.S. accounts for an astonishing two-thirds of all new drugs introduced worldwide, thus creating as many lifesaving drugs as the rest of the world combined. That is the direct result of our nation’s legacy of strong patent and IP protections.
"Perilously, however, Ms. Pagán and others – both domestically and within the WTO – support the U.S. surrendering its world-leading patent and IP protections on COVID vaccines, diagnostics, treatments and other innovations. Such a move would needlessly and tragically undermine the very policies that prompted pharmaceutical innovators, leaving us less capable of addressing current and future diseases.
"That much is not lost on the American people. In June, roughly eight in ten voters agreed that countries should honor their trade agreements with the U.S. protecting U.S. IP (83% Agree) and that the U.S. needs strong IP protections to encourage innovation (78%).
"Simply put, as we are reaching the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, now is not the time for the U.S. Senate to confirm a nominee who would be willing and able to negotiate away American intellectual property. For that reason, CFIF resolutely opposes Ms. Pagán’s nomination, and urges the U.S. Senate to reject her confirmation as Ambassador to the WTO.”
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