MEPs are concerned that certain provisions in the EU's free trade agreements and the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) could hinder access by the poorest countries to treatments and vaccines to combat Covid-19.
In a letter sent on 15 May to Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan, MEPs on the European Parliament Committee on International Trade called for the rights of developing countries to be guaranteed "in particular to get access to any breakthrough drugs".
Since 2003, in the event of a health crisis, the TRIPS Agreement allows states to produce a medicine without the consent of a foreign patent holder ('compulsory licensing').
But MEPs are concerned that certain provisions in these treaties - data exclusivity, enhanced patent protection and the protection of trade secrets - could make it more difficult to use these licences.
They therefore asked Mr Hogan to provide them with an assessment of the role of these treaties, "including whether the Commission is considering any guidelines on the ways in which voluntary licensing could be encouraged over immediate compulsory licensing".
On the same day, many developing countries also urged WTO members to make use of this flexibility (see EUROPE 12489/3).
See the letter: https://bit.ly/2TnER5f (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)