[CTC] U.S. says there's not mandate for expanded COVID-19 IP waiver

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Politico Morning Trade
July 27, 2022

U.S. SAYS THERE’S NO MANDATE FOR EXPANDED COVID-19 IP WAIVER: The United States does not believe last month’s WTO agreement to waive intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines <https://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b841617c6db55665640390a1f617fc2cd1604c7ba85569e7f0aae60b71503c644c2746986deef888cbefbdacc0378e240b32e89d324ee413>provides a mandate for members to decide in favor of extending that waiver to therapeutics and diagnostics by Dec. 17, a Geneva-based trade official said Tuesday.

Most countries spoke on the topic during the first day of the General Council meeting Monday, with many developing countries, such as India and South Africa, stressing the importance of extending the vaccine IP waiver to therapeutics and diagnostics.

They also argued members needed to focus more attention on the issue to reach a decision by the six-month deadline set by last month’s agreement.

The General Council chair re-opened the discussion on Tuesday so the U.S. could speak, the Geneva-based trade official said. The U.S. said it wanted to be clear that it views Dec. 17 as nothing more than a deadline to decide whether to extend the waiver to therapeutics and diagnostics, not as a mandate to take that action, the Geneva trade official said.

Manufacturers say ‘no’ to expansion: The National Association of Manufacturers, which opposed the IP waiver for Covid-19 vaccines, came out strongly Tuesday against an expansion to therapeutic and diagnostic products.

In a letter to top administration officials, <https://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b841617c6db55665c6cc0320d60c6502398700bb4158851f5c6c96edcee30c04f62c74a4b079d60318343a45a1463482ec9a82af336eb53f> NAM argued that move would “do nothing” to address the biggest challenges related to pandemic response, such as supply chain snarls and distribution problems.

“Instead, it could exacerbate these challenges by stressing the supply of critical inputs for manufacturers ramping up production and by distracting policymakers from effective solutions to these issues,” the group said. “An expanded waiver would also threaten U.S. manufacturing innovation in many other sectors, including digital technology, green technology or agricultural technology, by making it easier for countries to expropriate IP.”



Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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