WASHINGTON, D.C. - In testimony before the House Small Business Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee, AdvaMed called on Congress to continue efforts to expand market access for U.S. products abroad through new free trade agreements (FTA), as well as oversight of market access barriers.

"The U.S. government should aggressively combat trade barriers across the globe to ensure patients around the world can benefit from critically important medical technologies without delay," said AdvaMed President and CEO Stephen J. Ubl. "Complex, non-transparent, or overly burdensome regulations in foreign markets significantly delay patient access and unnecessarily drive up costs."

"Everyday, our industry faces challenges around the world as governments enact more trade regulations or look for short-term reductions in health care expenditures without accurately assessing the long-term implications of those actions on patient care," Ubl said. "We believe international trade agreements like the recently negotiated FTA with Korea can be a vehicle for addressing the way governments implement these policies."
Key points from Ubl's testimony included:

-Securing additional FTAs to help level the playing field by eliminating tariffs on U.S. medical technology product exports in addition to important procedural safeguards to protect manufacturers from onerous regulatory practices.

-Opening and expanding access to foreign markets to level the playing field for U.S. exporters.

-Preserving U.S. leadership and commitment to an open global trading system.

A copy of the Testimony is available at:
http://www.advamed.org/NR/rdonlyres/0EDF9005-F8E3-492A-AF25-
23DBE10E9629/0/FTASBstatement110107.pdf

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AdvaMed member companies produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less invasive procedures and more effective treatments. Our members produce nearly 90 percent of the health care technology purchased annually in the United States and more than 50 percent purchased annually around the world. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies. For more information, visit http://www.advamed.org/.

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