New Delhi, Jan 12 (KNN) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and the U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai on Wednesday welcomed continued engagement on intellectual property (IP) and reiterated that the protection and enforcement of IP contributes to the promotion of innovation as well as bilateral trade and investment in IP-intensive industries.

They were co-chairing the 13th Ministerial-level meeting of India – United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in Washington, DC, on January 11, 2023.

The United States welcomed India’s ongoing domestic consultations regarding the administration of its IP regime, including on the treatment of business confidential information related to working of patents, procedures for patent application oppositions, and streamlining of trademark infringement investigations.

Both the countries underlined the importance of continuing to engage on the copyrights provisions in view of commitments under the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty and World Intellectual Property Organization Performance and Phonogram Treaty.

The Ministers acknowledged the positive impact of Trade Margin Rationalization (TMR) on patient access to affordable medical devices during the Covid Pandemic.

They also agreed to continue to exchange views on pricing issues for cardiac stents and knee implants that would facilitate access to cutting edge medical technology at affordable prices to the patients.

The Ministers appreciated that bilateral trade in goods and services continued to rise rapidly and reached about USD 160 billion in 2021.

While welcoming this increase, the Ministers recognized that for economies of their size, significant potential remains unfulfilled and expressed their mutual desire to further enhance engagement with the goal of continuing to increase and diversify bilateral trade.

The United States appreciated India’s initial public consultation on the draft Drugs, Medical Devices, and Cosmetics Act and India noted that comments and suggestions on the draft bill are being examined as per standard procedures for introduction in the parliament.

It also welcomed India’s commitment to provide public notice and comment periods as it considers new quality control orders and ensure that the measures shall not be more trade restrictive than necessary in line with the WTO TBT Agreement.

India appreciated the resumption of inspections by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and asked the U.S. side to also resume inspections of new facilities and non-priority areas at the earliest.  (KNN Bureau)