General Studies- II (International Relations)

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Editorials In-Depth

07 May 2021

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Recently, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration announced its support for waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines.

Later, the European Union said it was ready to discuss the U.S.-backed proposal. This is a significant shift from their stated positions.

Background:

Following the onset of the pandemic in May 2020, the World Health Organisation proposed a COVID-technology access pool as a knowledge sharing initiative to rapidly scale up vaccine output around the world.

• The companies that develop vaccines, however, have not participated in the initiative.
• As vaccine research progressed last year, wealthy and advanced countries like the U.S., the U.K. and the European Union members, placed huge advance purchase orders for vaccines to counter the debilitating impact of the pandemic faster in their respective domains.
• This meant that smaller, developing countries would take longer to get vaccines and find resources to pay for them.

Proposal to waive TRIPS provisions:

In October 2020, India and South Africa floated a proposal at the World Trade Organisation’s TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Council to waive certain provisions of the WTO’s TRIPS pact till the pandemic subsides.

• The proposal envisaged facilitating wider access to technologies necessary for the production of vaccines and medicines.
• It was aimed to scale up local production of vaccine quickly and affordable so that the effective vaccines can be delivered to more people.
• At the Council meeting, India said there is no doubt that Intellectual Property barriers limit ‘equitable’ access to tools such as diagnostics and vaccines.
• It pointed out the array of lawsuits filed across the world by companies over IP infringement on COVID-19-related products.

Reaction to the proposal:

• While a majority of the least developed countries backed the proposal, some like China, Turkey and Thailand sought more clarity.
• However, the proposal was nixed with the E.U., the U.S., Switzerland, Norway, Australia, Canada, Japan and the U.K. rejecting it outright, along with Brazil.

Among other things, the argument was that such waivers could dampen innovation and research in areas such as pharmaceuticals and diagnostic technologies.

Probable reason of shift in the developed world stance:

Negotiations on the proposal have continued despite being blocked by the WTO Trips Council and subsequently, by its Ministerial Council.

• And the dynamics in support of the India-South Africa proposal, have been shifting, particularly after the second wave hit many countries.
• By February, 90 nations had backed the proposal, which swelled to 100 by the end of April.
• While the U. and the U.S. remained the key stumbling blocks towards attaining the necessary consensus, sections of lawmakers have been making a pitch for a rethink over the past month and a half.
• While over 250 members of the European Parliament and member countries’ national parliamentarians backed the proposal in late March.
• Over 100 U.S. lawmakers wrote to President Biden to help the WTO temporarily lift certain intellectual property barriers and allow countries to locally manufacture COVID-19 diagnostics and vaccines.

What exactly has the U.S. administration said now?

Stating that the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic call for extraordinary measures, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said;

• Though the U.S. government strongly believes in protecting intellectual property, it supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines in “service of ending this pandemic”.
• “The administration’s aim is to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible.”
• The administration has also said it will increase the supply of raw materials needed to produce vaccines.

After U.S. decision to support, the European Union is also ready to discuss any proposal that addresses the crisis in an effective and pragmatic manner.

It’s implications:

The question now is “with the E.U. and the U.S. on board, does this mean developing countries can now expect quicker and wider access to vaccines and tools for their people?

• Not just yet, say experts, despite the unprecedented U.S. move and the E.U.’s signal of support.
• Some E.U. countries, with large drug company headquarters such as Switzerland and the U.K may still not be enthusiastic.
• The strong pharmaceutical industry lobby in the U.S. may still have some arrows in its quiver, while many operational details get fleshed out.
• At the WTO itself, where these decisions need to be ratified, the process could take time.

With the U.S. and the E.U. now open to negotiations, the challenge moves to the next level and needs to navigate fineprint consensus building through bureaucratic layers of WTO and member countries’ national governments.

What next?

The WTO’s TRIPS Council is tentatively expected to hold a meeting on the waiver proposal again later this month and further discussions are likely over June 8 and 9.

• If and when an agreement is reached here, the WTO’s Ministerial Council will also have to sign off.
• Since WTO decisions are based on consensus, all 164 members need to agree on every single aspect of the negotiated waivers and conditions attached.

What is the TRIPS Agreement?

The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

• TRIPS was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) between 1989 and 1990 and is administered by the WTO.
• The TRIPS Agreement came into effect on 1 January 1995, is to date the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property.

The areas of intellectual property that it covers are:

• Copyright and related rights (i.e. the rights of performers, producers of sound recordings and broadcasting organizations);
• Trademarks including service marks; geographical indications including appellations of origin;
• Industrial designs;
• Patents including the protection of new varieties of plants;
• The layout-designs of integrated circuits; and
• Undisclosed information including trade secrets and test data.

Source: The Hindu