Executive Order 13155: Access to HIV/AIDS Pharmaceuticals and Medical Technologies
President: Bill Clinton
Limited specified Trade Act actions against qualifying sub-Saharan African policies that expanded HIV-medicine access.
Status: In effect. Is Executive Order 13155 still in effect? Yes. Executive Order 13155 remains in effect. See Federal Register record.
What does Executive Order 13155 do?
EO 13155 directed officials administering sections 301–310 of the Trade Act not to seek removal or revision of a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country’s law or policy on HIV/AIDS medicines or medical technologies when it improved access and protected intellectual property consistently with TRIPS. It also barred specified section 301(b) action against a qualifying policy. Officials could still evaluate compliance, consult and use WTO dispute settlement. The order neither supplied medicines nor changed patent law. The reviewed disposition table lists no express revocation; later public-health and trade measures are separate authorities.
Later evidence reviewed October 2, 2026: The order’s limits are conditional and specific to certain Trade Act conduct. Later global-health and trade policies do not themselves establish repeal.
Before and after
Before the order
Trade officials retained section 301 tools without this express HIV-access limitation.
After the order
Qualifying African measures gained protection from specified U.S. pressure and section 301(b) action.
USTR later described broader public-health flexibility in international trade policy.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| USTR and U.S. officials | Apply the conditional limit when administering trade law | Policy scope of order |
| Beneficiary governments | Develop access policies that meet the stated conditions | Country-specific |
| U.S. officials | Continue dialogue or WTO dispute settlement if warranted | Expressly preserved |
What happened next
EO 13155 signed.
Published in the Federal Register.
WTO members adopted the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and public health.
The conditional scope and later trade-policy context reviewed.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
The order limits executive use of certain Trade Act powers but preserves WTO dispute settlement and creates no enforceable private right. It neither amends patent statutes nor determines a foreign measure’s TRIPS compliance automatically.
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
- USTR — 2002 access framework (opens in a new tab) Official record
- National Archives — 2000 disposition table (opens in a new tab) Official record
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on October 2, 2026. How we research →