WTO chief seeks text to advance debate over COVID-19 vaccine
The World Trade Organization chief has appealed to member states to present and negotiate over a text that could lead to a temporary easing of trade rules that protect COVID-19 vaccine technology
May 5, 2021, 7:07 PM
5 min read
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleFILE - In this Monday, March 1, 2021 file photo, New Director-General of the World Trade Organisation Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, left, walks at the entrance of the WTO, following a photo-op upon her arrival at the WTO headquarters to take office in Geneva, Switzerland. Ambassadors from World Trade Organization countries were discussing trade rules protecting the technological know-how behind COVID-19 vaccines. The WTO’s General Council's agenda for a two-day meeting starting Wednesday, May 5, 2021 includes a waiver on intellectual property protections for vaccines. (Fabrice Coffrini/Pool/Keystone via AP, FIle)
GENEVA -- The World Trade Organization chief appealed to member countries on Wednesday to quickly present and negotiate over a text that could temporarily ease trade rules that protect COVID-19 vaccine technology, as a way to ramp access to doses at a time of urgent need.
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spoke to a closed-door meeting of ambassadors from developing and developed countries that have been wrangling over the issue, but agree on the need for wider access to COVID-19 treatments, WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said.
The WTO’s General Council — made up of ambassadors — was taking up the pivotal issue of a temporary waiver for intellectual property protections on COVID-19 vaccines and other tools that South Africa and India first proposed in October. The idea has gained support in the developing world and among some progressive lawmakers in the West.
“What was striking about today was this very strong declaration by all members on this shared objective — which is ramping up production and distribution of these vaccines and therapeutics and diagnostics in the developing world, where there is a great inequity in terms of of distribution," Rockwell told reporters, summarizing the debate.
The United States, among other rich countries that have hesitated about or outright opposed the idea, is shaping up as a potential lynchpin — with the Biden administration seemingly on the fence about the matter.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki noted Wednesday that Biden had expressed support for similar waiver ideas during his campaign, but as president is running “a process ... that includes all stakeholders in the administration."
“And that process will take a series of months, and requires a unanimous point of view to move forward,” she told reporters in Washington. “We take intellectual property incredibly seriously, and we also, though, are in the midst of a historic global pandemic, which requires a range of creative solutions.”
“We’re looking at it through that prism,” Psaki added. "I expect we’ll have more, now that the WTO meetings are underway, we’ll have more to say very soon on this.”
Rockwell said most member states "would say this is the most important issue facing our organization today.”
“I’m not going to put odds on on how likely it is to find an agreement," he said. “But when people begin to voice very clearly their shared objectives, it makes it easier to get to ‘yes.’"
The pace of efforts at the Geneva-based trade body have been outstripped by the speed of the spread of the pandemic. The World Health Organization across town said earlier Wednesday that weekly case counts have been at record highs in the last two weeks.
Rockwell said a WTO panel on intellectual property was set to take up the waiver proposal again at a “tentative” meeting later this month, before a formal meeting on June 8-9.
No consensus -- which is required under WTO rules -- was expected to emerge from the ambassadors’ two-day meeting on Wednesday and Thursday. But Rockwell pointed to a change in tone after months of wrangling.
