India’s proposal on IP waiver gets backing

THE TEXT WAS FIRST CIRCULATED AMONG MEMBERS OF THE US, EU, INDIA AND SOUTH AFRICA, AND THEN TO WTO MEMBERS

In a potential global breakthrough, the US, EU, India and South Africa are closing in on a draft “compromise agreement” on waiving intellectual property (IP) rights for Covid-19 vaccines, according to a tentative text that arrived at last week, which HT has reviewed.

The text was first circulated among representatives of the US, EU, India and South Africa, and then to all World Trade Organization (WTO) members, an official said on condition of anonymity. A key condition in the draft text is that a waiver could apply to a “developing country member that exported less than 10 % of world exports of Covid-19 vaccine doses in 2021”.

Developing countries, including India, have been negotiating for long at the WTO Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for waiving IP rights to universalise access to Covid-19 vaccines.

WHO has repeatedly warned that vaccine inequities – richer countries have more vaccines and vaccination rates – are the biggest hurdle in ending the pandemic and protecting millions of the world’s poor.

It’s still uncertain if the proposal will go through because it must be approved by all of WTO’s 164 member nations.

India’s waiver application was not limited to just vaccines but includes “diagnostics and therapeutics in relation to prevention, containment or treatment of Covid-19”, but, the draft text proposes a waiver for only vaccines.

On 17 May 2021, HT reported in detail the complexities of Covid-19 vaccine IPs and India’s stand on the matter. If the proposal moved by India and South Africa jointly on 2 October 2020 at WTO goes through with US’ backing, it would prevent countries from implementing patents, trade secrets or other monopolies under WTO’s agreement on TRIPS.