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The main justification for Peru and the Andean countries to develop a trade agreement with the United States was to guarantee preferential and permanent access for their export products to its markets. This would be achieved by making the preferences in the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) binding and permanent. Such preferences have meant a significant advantage in exports to the United States. These preferences compensate for serious limitations in the competitiveness of products from the Andean region due to factors such as lack of transportation infrastructure, high labor costs, bureaucratic obstacles, and limited access to credit.
However, there were, and continue to be, significant concerns expressed by civil society as well as other economic actors that the concessions that would have to be made to maintain the preferences would have a damaging effect on sensitive economic sectors and would limit Peru’s ability to deliver on public policy objectives such as public health and education. The US-Peru FTA process saw an unprecedented involvement in intellectual property (IP) issues from civil society groups and local pharmaceutical companies. The actions of these actors presented challenges for negotiators and may have had a profound effect on the approach of the U.S. Congress to the agreement.
This paper examines the path that has led to the conclusion of the agreement and analyzes, from the perspective of one of the negotiators, the discourse surrounding the intellectual property provisions as it evolved in Peru. The experience of Peru may suggest some important lessons for any such future negotiations in other regions. The next section outlines the role of intellectual property in the Andean Pact negotiations that preceded the US-Peru FTA process. Section III analyzes the rationale and consequences of Peru’s decision to pursue a separate negotiation, while Section IV examines the role and influence of non-governmental actors on the negotiations. Section V outlines the content of the final provisions in the US-Peru FTA.