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TRIPS Agreement waiver

Waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the Prevention, Containment and Treatment of COVID-19
Presented2 October 2020
SignatoriesSouth Africa India

Official co-sponsors
Kenya Eswatini (15-16 October 2020)

64 countries by November 2021
PurposeWTO TRIPS waiver proposal
Full text
Waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the Prevention, Containment and Treatment of COVID-19 at Wikisource
opponents

The TRIPS Agreement waiver (officially titled the Waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the Prevention, Containment and Treatment of COVID-19)[1] is a joint intervention communication by South Africa and India to the TRIPS council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 2 October 2020.[2][3]

The two countries are suggesting a temporary patent waiver for COVID-19 drugs, COVID-19 vaccines and related equipment and technologies in four categories of intellectual property under the TRIPS agreement.[4][5][6] The four categories, as enunciated in sections of the TRIPS agreement, cover– copyright, industrial designs, patents and protection of undisclosed information.[7] The duration of the waiver is based on the time frame in which the world can develop an immunity against COVID-19.[6]

Generally, wealthier countries oppose the waiver, while poorer countries support it.[8][9] Reuters noted that the European Union, the United States and Switzerland, countries opposing the waiver, are home to large pharmaceutical companies and have excellent domestic vaccine availability.[10][11] In May 2021, Reuters quoted an unnamed industry sources as saying that they were attempting to narrow the waiver, seeing little chance of blocking it.[12]

A waiver would have to be agreed to by all 164 WTO member countries; any one dissenter could scupper the deal. The WTO has not managed to get agreement on any substansive new policy since it was founded in 1995.[12] Proponents (including Oxfam) have accused opponents of stalling,[8] and of filibustering by asking the same questions over and over.[11]

  1. ^ "Waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the Prevention, Containment and Treatment of COVID-19". World Trade Organization. 2 October 2020. Archived from the original on 11 June 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  2. ^ Ghosal, Aniruddha; Anna, Cara (3 October 2020). "India, South Africa ask WTO to ease IP rules for COVID-19". AP NEWS. The Associated Press. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  3. ^ Dabade, Gopal (2020-10-12). "Avoiding patents for Covid-19 vaccines". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  4. ^ "In landmark move, India and South Africa propose no patents on COVID-19 medicines, tools during pandemic". Médecins Sans Frontières Access Campaign. Médecins Sans Frontières. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  5. ^ "5 reasons a new proposal by India and South Africa could be a gamechanger in the COVID-19 response". Médecins Sans Frontières Access Campaign. Médecins Sans Frontières. 11 October 2020. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  6. ^ a b "WTO COVID-19 TRIPS waiver proposal: Myths, realities and an opportunity for governments to protect access to lifesaving medical tools in a pandemic" (PDF). Médecins Sans Frontières. December 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference WHOchief was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference cato was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Allison, Simon (30 January 2021). "Bill Gates, Big Pharma and entrenching the vaccine apartheid". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  11. ^ a b Farge, Emma (January 19, 2021). "Backers of IP waiver for COVID-19 drugs make fresh push at WTO". Reuters. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  12. ^ a b Lawder, David (6 May 2021). "WTO vaccine waiver could take months to negotiate, faces opposition -experts". Reuters.

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