After a meeting of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on 4 October, no progress is expected to be made at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on whether to lift patents on Covid-19 vaccines.
A year ago, South Africa and India requested the removal of intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines. After numerous meetings and small group consultations at the WTO, member countries are still unable to reconcile their positions on the subject.
According to a Geneva official, Mauritius spoke at the 4 October TRIPS meeting on behalf of the group supporting the lifting of patents and called for support for the proposal as it had been formulated.
For them, the EU proposal, which clarifies existing TRIPS flexibilities, should be discussed in parallel – not as an alternative – to the South African and Indian proposals.
The European delegation held its position on the subject and called for further discussions using its proposal as a basis.
The Chair of the TRIPS Council, Dagfinn Sørli (Norway), called on members to help him rapidly find a solution. On 13 October, the last formal meeting of the TRIPS Council is set to take place before the 12th Ministerial Conference that is due to be held from 30 November to 3 December. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)