[CTC] WTO members debate MC12 outcome implementation, TRIPS decision expansion

[Arthur Stamoulis]

During yesterday’s WTO General Council meeting, Global South countries led by South Africa and India said it is “unjustifiable” for the WTO to ignore its barriers to COVID tests and treatment access, and called for a final decision by October; the United States (the main impediment) remained silent on the issue.


WTO members debate MC12 outcome implementation, TRIPS decision expansion
Inside US Trade, 7/25/22

With the 12th ministerial conference in the rearview mirror, members of the World Trade Organization on Monday focused on how to ensure the gathering’s outcomes come to fruition – especially the fisheries subsidies agreement and the mandate to decide whether to include diagnostics and therapeutics in the MC12 decision crafted to facilitate COVID-19 vaccine production.

The decision included a clause mandating that members make a decision on whether to expand the scope within six months after the final text was agreed to, putting the deadline around mid-December. During the first General Council meeting since MC12, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged delegations to work “expeditiously” on this issue, advocating for a “mutually agreeable solution,” according to a WTO summary of her remarks <https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news22_e/gc_25jul22_e.htm>. 

Many members, especially developing countries, view expanding the scope of the so-called TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 vaccines – referring to the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights – as critical to their ability to continue to combat the pandemic. Others, however, have been critical of the idea of the TRIPS decision from the start and the expansion of the scope is likely to face an uphill battle.

During Monday’s General Council meeting, South Africa – a sponsor of the original waiver proposal – argued it was “unjustifiable” for the WTO to deliver on only one aspect of the pandemic, vaccines, while ignoring people’s needs for the other products, according to a Geneva-based trade official familiar with the meeting.

Switzerland, an early opponent of the waiver, remains skeptical of expanding the MC12 decision beyond its current remit, arguing that the scope of products that could be covered by including diagnostics and therapeutics is expansive and could include medicines used for non-pandemic-related issues, according to the official. The country called for fact-based discussions first.

The U.S., notably, did not intervene on this agenda item. The Biden administration’s support of a waiver for vaccines was, arguably, the biggest step toward the eventual agreement on the issue at MC12. However, the U.S. has never included diagnostics and therapeutics in its characterization of support for a waiver and has not indicated since then that its position has changed.

The six-month deadline, too, is proving to be a tight turnaround for negotiators who are not scheduled to meet again until September, leaving just three full months for talks in an organization where negotiations are notoriously slow-moving. The WTO’s schedule is always very light in August, referred to as a summer break.

The reality of this schedule was noted by some of the proponents of including diagnostics and therapeutics, with both India and South Arica, for example, on Monday lamenting the lack of urgency in proceeding with the discussions.

India said it was surprised by the resistance from members to continue talks ahead of the September meeting, according to the Geneva official. The country said it would work on the issue through the summer break and connect with delegates still in Geneva or those available virtually. India, optimistically, called for members to deliver on the mandate by the next General Council meeting in October. 

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Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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