Members at the WTO meeting aimed at finding convergence on IP COVID-19 response
Geneva: A breakthrough has been achieved among four World Trade Organization (WTO) members on a waiver of the Trade-Related Intellectual Property agreement for the production of vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic. These members are – India, European Union, South Africa and the United States.
“This is a major step forward and this compromise is the result of many long and difficult hours of negotiations. But we are not there yet. We have more work to do to ensure that we have the support of the entire WTO Membership,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said today and welcomed the breakthrough.
While the agreement between the European Union, India, South Africa and the United States is an essential element to any final deal, she cautioned that not all the details of the compromise have been ironed out and that internal domestic consultations within the four members are still ongoing. Moreover, she stressed that work must commence immediately to broaden the discussions to include all 164 members of the WTO.
“In the WTO we decide by consensus, and this has not yet been achieved. My team and I have been working hard for the past three months and we are ready to roll up our sleeves again to work together with the TRIPS Council Chair Ambassador Lansana Gberie (Sierra Leone) to bring about a full agreement as quickly as possible. We are grateful to the four Members for the difficult work they have undertaken so far,” said Dr Okonjo-Iweala.
It may be mentioned that on March 9 and 10, 2022, WTO members were updated on the high-level political consultations taking place to try to find a landing zone on the intellectual property-related aspects of a WTO COVID-19 response at a meeting of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Some of the members participating since December 2021 in the high-level talks — the European Union, India, South Africa and the United States — expressed cautious optimism about a possible outcome and asked for patience from the rest of the membership. These members said that the small-group discussions continue to take place in good faith, with the objective of finding a landing zone that delivers on the common purpose of ensuring equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.
They stressed that any framework that emerges from this process, under the coordination of WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Deputy Director-General Anabel González, will be subject to consideration by the TRIPS Council and its full membership. They also underlined that achieving an effective outcome on this critical issue would serve the ultimate purpose of tackling the ongoing crisis as well as ensuring that the credibility of the WTO is restored.
Generally, members were supportive of the small-group consultations and encouraged those participating to regularly update the TRIPS Council. However, some members asked for greater transparency and inclusiveness in order to reach an outcome that represents the views of the whole membership. For these members, progress towards an outcome on an IP COVID-19 response cannot be expected if the TRIPS Council does not know the details of discussions that can result in taking forward discussions on the wider pandemic response.
The chair of the TRIPS Council, Ambassador Dagfinn Sørli of Norway, said that expectations and hopes remain, as the current high-level process may result in framing a platform upon which the membership at large may be able to build something that can result in a consensus-based solution. He added that all efforts should be made to keep the entire membership informed and involved in the deliberation of the items which are part of the Council’s agenda.
Members agreed to keep open in the agenda of the TRIPS Council the proposal for a waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19 and the Draft General Council Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health in the Circumstances of a Pandemic so that the Council can be reconvened at short notice if substantial progress is made in the high-level talks.
At its last formal meeting on 22 February 2022, the Council agreed to once again provide a “Status Report on the consideration by the TRIPS Council of the waiver proposal” to the General Council meeting of February 23-24, 2022. That report provided a factual overview of the waiver discussions in this Council and highlighted members’ common goal of providing timely and secure access to high-quality, safe, efficacious and affordable vaccines and medicines for all.
The report concluded that the TRIPS Council will continue its consideration of the waiver request and report back to the General Council as stipulated in Article IX:3 of the Marrakesh Agreement.
“Let me once again urge delegations to remain fully engaged with a sense of urgency, and with the objective to find a path forward towards a consensus-based outcome. Let me also remind all members that transparency and inclusiveness are central pillars of the WTO’s modus operandi and that all efforts should be made to keep the entire membership as much as possible informed and involved in the deliberation on items on the Council’s agenda,” said Ambassador Sørli.
Technology transfer to LDCs
A virtual workshop on the implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement on incentives for technology transfer to LDCs was held the week before the TRIPS Council. Government officials from LDC members and observers, developed country members, cooperation partners, academia and civil society participated on 2-4 March in the workshop aimed at analysing and enhancing the benefits of the transparency mechanism concerning technology transfer measures under the TRIPS Agreement.
Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement calls on developed countries to provide incentives to enterprises and institutions in their territories for the purpose of promoting and encouraging technology transfer to LDCs in order to enable them to create a sound and viable technological base.
The workshop provided a unique opportunity for informal dialogue between the various partners involved in technology transfer to LDCs. It provided developed members with a better understanding of the needs and priorities of LDC members. It also allowed them to share experiences and identify best practices in order to assist members in learning from each other and enabling them to target their incentives in a way that responds effectively to the needs of individual LDCs.
The LDC Group welcomed the focus of the workshop on key issues for LDCs, such as environment, health and agriculture, and thanked developed country members for submitting their annual reports. The LDC Group confirmed it will soon share their feedback with specific points of concern as well as priority needs and reiterated that one of the main challenges is to understand what specific technology has been transferred. In this regard, LDCs have suggested a template to help report on technology transfer to LDCs accurately and clearly. The LDC Group appreciated that many developed country members have recently started to submit reports in this format.
Photo caption (top): Members at the WTO meeting aimed at finding convergence on IP COVID-19 response
– global bihari bureau
