After multiple meetings, WTO members remain deadlocked on the debate over the TRIPS waiver for Covid-19 vaccines. At an informal meeting of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Thursday 22 April, the EU reiterated its strong opposition to the proposal made by South Africa and India.
According to a source in Geneva, the EU recalled its effort to distribute vaccines worldwide through the Covax mechanism. It also encouraged the pharmaceutical industry to increase production capacity and make vaccines affordable for Covax. But for the EU, as for the UK and Switzerland, the concrete proposal to waive intellectual property rights on vaccines is not an option.
Along with developed countries, the EU considers that compulsory licences under the TRIPS agreement are already a means of supporting production in less developed countries (see EUROPE 12698/4). They allow governments to grant a company permission to produce a vaccine without holding the patent.
The US and Australia, on the other hand, were open to the issue at the meeting, according to the same source. They are willing to continue discussions to better understand the link between TRIPS agreements and vaccine production and delivery limits.
South Africa reported that countries in favour of the TRIPS waiver were drafting an amended proposal to be submitted to the TRIPS Council, but did not say when.
After consultations with members over the past weeks, the Chair of the TRIPS Council, Dagfinn Sørli (Norway), reported a feeling of frustration on their part about the repetitive content of discussions during the meetings. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)