WTO moves closer to providing global access to vaccines

By PPO Abogados

In an extensive discussion with the participation of 48 countries, including Bolivia, World Trade Organization (WTO) members moved closer to a text-based process to address the proposals aimed at improving the international response to COVID-19 and achieving the common goal of providing global equitable access to vaccines and other medical products. 

"It is a very important moment in the debate over a patent waiver for COVID-19 vaccines," stated the Foreign Minister of Bolivia, Rogelio Mayta, before the formal meeting of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on 8-9 June, 2021.

There, delegations expressed their willingness to engage constructively in a discussion based on two proposals tabled by members, namely the revised proposal for a waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, co-sponsored by over 60 delegations, and the communication from the European Union on urgent trade policy responses to the pandemic.

The co-proponents of the proposal to waive certain TRIPS Agreement obligations detailed the main points of their revised text. They stressed that the updated proposal takes into account the existence of virus mutations and new variants which have a significant impact on public health measures. It also underlines the importance of diversifying production and supply to increase access to vaccines and other medical products, and the need to preserve incentives for research and innovation.

Several members expressed their support for the EU's proposal, which calls for limiting export restrictions, supporting the expansion of production, and facilitating the use of current compulsory licensing provisions in the TRIPS Agreement, particularly by clarifying that the requirement to negotiate with the right holder of the vaccine patent does not apply in urgent situations such as a pandemic, among other issues. While recognizing that intellectual property rights should not stand in the way of deploying and creating capacity, or of ensuring equitable access to vaccines and therapeutics, these members stressed that this can be attained while maintaining IP as the basis for incentivizing investment in innovation, and for licensing technology transfer, so that members can effectively fight new strains of COVID-19 and any future diseases and pandemics.

Delegations agreed on the urgent need for this discussion and called on the chair of the TRIPS Council, Ambassador Dagfinn Sørli of Norway, to facilitate an intensive process in various formats. The chair foresees an intensive schedule of meetings and consultations, stating that equitable access to medicines for COVID-19 is both the moral and economic issue of our time. The chair intends to consult members urgently on how the process can be arranged in practical terms, aiming at agreement on a report to the next General Council meeting scheduled for 21-22 July, 2021.