Trade Minister Andrew Robb has done the right thing by refusing to budge on the length of the Trans-Pacific Partnership intellectual property protections, says Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
US Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, a Republican whose support will be crucial to passing the trade deal, is unhappy that intellectual property protections for biologic medicines have not been extended to 12 years.
Mr Robb has refused to change the present five-year protection period, saying a longer period would push up medicine prices for Australians.
Mr Shorten told AAP in Perth that five years is appropriate, but added Labor still needs to see the details of the deal.
"We made clear one of our tests for the TPP was maintaining Australian know-how and keeping downward pressure on Australian prices," Mr Shorten said on Saturday.
"If it passes that test, well then we're on the Australian side rather than a US senator's side.
"We think Robb's done the right thing there."
Mr Shorten told the forum the deal is a very complex issue and "not automatically a bad thing".
"But we're not automatically signed up to it," he said.
"We want to see if it measures up to the promises. Will it increase the cost of pharmaceuticals? Will it deliver benefits?
"We're going to examine this very carefully."
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