The South African legislature has passed controversial legislation which gives the Minister of Health the right in certain circumstances to prescribe conditions for the supply of "more affordable" medicines, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Patents Act. It is feared by the pharmaceutical industry that the new law, after it has been signed by President Mandela, may have the effect of providing an open door for parallel imports of pharmaceutical products. Prior to passage of the bill the United States Ambassador to South Africa wrote to the parliamentary portfolio committee on health stating that the United States was "gravely concerned over the public policy implications" of the new law.