US, EU, India and South Africa make progress on Covid vaccine IPR waiver

The roadblock: Backing of 164 members of the WTO required--rejection by just one country could still block an accord

The United States, European Union, South Africa and India have agreed on key elements of the WTO’s Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement that is aimed at making more counties get access to Covid-19 vaccine.

However, this will now need the backing of the 164 members of the WTO, which takes decisions based on consensus, so rejection by just one country could still block an accord.

The development comes after a deadlock of more than one year since India and South Africa  submitted a joint proposal for temporarily waiving some sections of the TRIPS agreement that will be applicable to industrial design, trade secrets, patent, and copyright.

“This is a major step forward and this compromise is the result of many long and difficult hours of negotiations. But we are not there yet. We have more work to do to ensure that we have the support of the entire WTO Membership,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonja Iweala said in a statement on Wednesday.

“In the WTO we decide by consensus, and this has not yet been achieved. My team and I have been working hard for the past three months and we are ready to roll up our sleeves again to work together with the TRIPS Council Chair Ambassador Lansana Gberie (Sierra Leone) to bring about a full agreement as quickly as possible,” she said.

In January, India had sent a letter to the multilateral body’s General Council Chair, calling for a virtual ministerial meeting on the issue of the WTO’s response to the pandemic, including the proposal to temporarily waive some sections of the TRIPS agreement.