A majority of World Trade Organization (WTO) members believe the agreement that India, South Africa, the United States, and the EU reached in March regarding a temporary waiver on patents for Covid-19 vaccines (see EUROPE 12912/9) constitutes a good basis for discussions. During a meeting of the WTO General Council on Tuesday, 10 May, many members demonstrated their willingness to work on this basis, despite their criticisms of certain points in the text.
According to WTO spokesperson Keith Rockwell, this marks a certain turning point given that the negotiations have not focused on any particular text until now.
China’s announcement
China reiterated that it did not agree with the fact that developing countries that had exported more than 10% of vaccine doses could not benefit from the flexibilities proposed in the quadrilateral agreement (see EUROPE 12947/15). Nevertheless, Beijing indicated that, in the event there is an agreement on a text that does not include the reference to 10% of dose exports, it was promising to not apply for these flexibilities regardless and, thus, to abide by the usual rules on intellectual property.
Chair of the Council for [Trade-Related Aspects of] Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Lansana Gberie indicated that it was extremely important to focus on this document in the coming weeks, seeing as the date of 12th WTO Ministerial Conference is not far off. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)