[CTC] WTO chief says 'pragmatic compromise' possible by December on vaccine intellectual property waiver

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Politico Pro

WTO chief says 'pragmatic compromise' possible by December on vaccine intellectual property waiver
BY DOUG PALMER | 10/14/2021 03:02 PM EDT 
World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Thursday that she believed countries could reach a compromise agreement by early December on a contentious proposal to waive intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines to increase global production of the life-saving medicines.

"I believe that members can find a pragmatic compromise on the IP waiver which ensures equitable access to developing countries while preserving incentives for research and innovation," Okonjo-Iweala said during a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington, D.C,-based think tank.

Health and trade: India and South Africa first proposed more than a year ago a broad waiver of IP protections for Covid-19 vaccines as well as therapeutics and diagnostics. The issue seemed dead at the World Trade Organization until May, after the Biden administration announced its support for a waiver covering just vaccines.

However, the EU has remained strongly opposed to any waiver, arguing it would reduce drug incentives to develop new medicines. The EU has proposed countries use existing provisions in the WTO's intellectual property agreement to grant waivers within their own borders, rather than asking the WTO to provide a broad waiver covering all jurisdictions.

While formal negotiations on the waiver are still "stuck," informal discussions among the member nations "continue and are intensifying" before the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference that begins on Nov. 30, Okonjo-Iweala said. 

Limits of persuasion: The WTO trade chief can only cajole countries to reach an agreement. But she said she was particularly encouraged after she attended the G-20 trade ministers meeting this week in Sorrento, Italy. That grouping includes all the major players in the vaccine debate, such as South Africa, India, the United States, the EU and China.

Okonjo-Iweala said she has been pushing members to forge "a strong ministerial declaration on trade and health" at the MC-12 meeting. That would include whatever is agreed on the IP waiver, plus other initiatives to increase vaccine availability, such as limiting export restrictions, keeping supply chains open and eliminating customs bottlenecks, she said.

'Global commons': Okonjo-Iweala also said the WTO must step up its role as a protector of "the global commons" by finishing a 20-year-old negotiation to curb fishing subsidies that contribute to the depletion of ocean stocks. 

Big differences remain over how much nations that give the biggest subsidies will actually reduce their spending and how much poor countries will be exempted from making any subsidy cuts. But "we need to get to grips and complete these negotiations," she said.

Okonjo-Iweala added that the WTO could play an important role in helping countries address climate change.

"Trade can help make it cheaper to decarbonize our economies and get more value for each dollar of green investment. Lowering trade barriers to environmental goods and services would reduce the cost of decarbonization," she said. 

However, she also warned of the potential for a major conflict at the WTO if countries develop different systems for calculating and taxing the carbon content of traded goods.


Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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