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Medical technology industry applauds announcement to start US-EU trade negociations – 2013

Posted on 20.06.2013

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Washington, D.C., 20 June 2013 – Today, the leading global medical technology industry associations AdvaMed, COCIR, MITA and MedTech Europe (the alliance of European medical technology industry associations EDMA and Eucomed) applaud the announcement to launch trade negotiations between the United States and European Union.

During a press conference in Northern Ireland Monday in advance of the opening of the G8 Summit, President Barack Obama, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, and United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron said talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will start in July. All four leaders have made clear that TTIP is a priority and are confident that a trade deal will ultimately be reached.

“The transatlantic medical device community welcomes today’s announcement, and will continue to work with regulators and trade negotiators on both sides of the Atlantic to promote increased safety, quality and access to life-saving medical technologies,” said Nicole Denjoy, Secretary General of COCIR.

“The industry applauds efforts to begin the TTIP talks. TTIP will not only promote economic growth in the US and EU, but it also will help to improve patient outcomes worldwide by improving patient access to the latest innovative technologies,” said Stephen J. Ubl, President and CEO of AdvaMed

AdvaMed, COCIR, MITA, and MedTech Europe have been working for several months to urge US and EU authorities to work toward the inclusion of single audits of medical device quality systems, a common set of harmonized standards for marketing application and compliance documentation, a unique device identification program, elimination of tariffs and improvements in trade and customs facilitation in the final agreement.

“We enthusiastically support this opportunity, and look forward to concrete developments in the coming months that will further enhance our transatlantic economic relationship, which already accounts for nearly one trillion dollars in trade and supports millions of jobs to which David Cameron noted today that TTIP has the potential to create an additional two million new jobs,” Serge Bernasconi, Chief Executive Officer of MedTech Europe.

“We are hopeful that this deal will not only to expand trade and investment between the US and EU, but also improve the global regulatory environment for manufacturers to ensure they remain at the forefront of technological innovation,” noted Gail Rodriguez, Executive Director of MITA.

 

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About MedTech Europe

MedTech Europe is the European trade association representing the medical technology industries, from diagnosis to cure. We represent Diagnostics and Medical Devices manufacturers operating in Europe.
MedTech Europe’s mission is to make innovative medical technology available to more people, while helping healthcare systems move towards a sustainable path. MedTech Europe encourages policies that help the medical technology industry meet Europe’s growing healthcare needs and expectations. It also promotes medical technology’s value for Europe focusing on innovation and stakeholder relations, using economic research and data, communications, industry events and training sessions.

MedTech Europe started as an alliance in October 2012 formed by two organisations – EDMA, representing the European in vitro diagnostic industry; and Eucomed, representing the European medical devices industry.

About AdvaMed

AdvaMed is the Advanced Medical Technology Association that represents medical device and diagnostics manufacturers in the United States.

About COCIR

COCIR is the voice of the European Radiological, Electromedical and Healthcare IT Industry.

About MITA

MITA is the collective voice of medical imaging equipment, radiation therapy and radiopharmaceutical manufacturers in the United States.