Foreign reference pricing
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
AdvaMed leadership will meet with Japanese officials directly before and after a U.S. Trade Representative meeting in Tokyo the week of Jan. 21. AdvaMed President Pamela Bailey will visit Japan the week of Jan. 14 to discuss trade barriers for medical technologies; Executive VP-Global Strategy & Analysis Edward Rozynski will follow the USTR-Japan meeting with a visit the week of Jan. 28. The trade group backed a letter from Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, expressing "serious concern" over a Dec. 12, 2001 policy change by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare regarding the adoption of foreign reference pricing rules (1"The Gray Sheet" Dec. 24, 2001, p. 30). Co-signed by Senate leaders Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.), the Dec. 20 letter claims the MHLW decision "does not reflect a method that is open, transparent or in accord with free trade principles"...