At the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Thursday 15 December, members failed to approve even a report stating their disagreement. They were to decide by 17 December whether to extend the agreement reached in June on intellectual property for Covid-19 vaccines to cover treatments and diagnostic tools (see EUROPE 12974/2, 13079/34).
After negotiations had stalled for several months, Sierra Leone’s Ambassador Lansana Gberie, who is chairing the talks, offered to submit a factual report to the WTO General Council on 19-20 December on behalf of all members. The document explains the lack of consensus and the need to continue discussions with the aim of returning to the General Council “no later than 30 June 2023”.
While the so-called “developed” countries, including the EU, endorsed the report, a group of delegations including South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Egypt and Tanzania requested several changes to the text at a meeting on 15 December, according to a Geneva source.
In particular, these countries wanted more written recognition of their efforts to extend the agreement to treatments and diagnostic tools. They also called for the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the response to Covid-19 to be addressed, but developed countries objected. The discussion at the WTO concerns intellectual property, which is not within the competence of the WHO, they said, according to the same source.
The deadline of 30 June 2023 was also a source of disagreement for some delegations, who preferred to refer to the first WTO General Council, which significantly shortens the deadline, as the next meeting of this body is scheduled to take place on 2 March 2023, according to the WTO indicative timetable. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)