WTO DG welcomes breakthrough on Covid-19 vaccine waiver

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed breakthrough among four member countries - India, South Africa, EU US - on a waiver of TRIP agreement for the production of Covid-19 vaccines.

World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Wednesday welcomed the breakthrough among four member countries - India, South Africa, EU and the US - on a waiver of the trade-related intellectual property (TRIP) agreement for the production of Covid-19 vaccines.

She said that 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, the Director-General said in a statement.

While the agreement between the European Union, India, South Africa and the US is an essential element to any final deal, she cautioned that not all the details of the compromise have been ironed out and that internal domestic consultations within the four members are still ongoing.

She stressed that work must commence immediately to broaden the discussions to include all 164 members of the WTO.

"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. We are grateful to the four Members for the difficult work they have undertaken so far, Okonjo-Iweala said.

India and South Africa are pushing for a decision on their proposal for a temporary waiver of certain provisions of a WTO agreement on intellectual property rights to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

In October 2020, India and South Africa had submitted the first proposal, suggesting a waiver for all WTO members on the implementation of certain provisions of the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement in relation to the prevention, containment or treatment of COVID. In May 2021, a revised proposal was submitted by them.