The agreement was always worrying well before disagreements surfaced and multiplied at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting on suspending patents on vaccines to fight Covid-19. It was agreed that this would take time, months at the least before an agreement could be reached, if it were to be reached at all.
That already meant tens of thousands of lives certain to be lost well before there could be a beginning to the end of patents on vaccines. Such an end now looks very unlikely after two days of talks at the WTO on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
The proposal was brought up jointly by India and South Africa. It set off a series of divisions, some expected and others that appeared a surprise. Pharmaceutical companies were expectedly opposed to the proposal, governments from developing countries were mostly, though not even among them, for it. Brazil opposed the plan. The US government surprised by backing the proposal. On Thursday Germany announced, just as expected, opposition to it.
The WTO talks ended inconclusively – this was expected. But they did not end entirely hopelessly. India and South Africa, joined by Namibia, are due to come back with an amended proposal later this month that would seek to take the concerns of pharmaceutical companies into account over intellectual property rights. Claiming those rights these companies are keeping the formulae of the vaccines to themselves. Pfizer earned a profit of 3.5 billion dollars in just the first quarter of this year from sale of its vaccine.
Following fresh proposals due now from India and South Africa, what looks at the moment like a non-starter may get off to a late start. A further debate on the amended proposals is due June 8-9. That could be at best the beginning of a late start, and it would at best a half start. Any results would come months down the line – if of course they do at all.
Third Way
As did India’s first proposal, the Indian move to come back with an amended proposal is also winning considerable backing, while governments watch that space with some interest over the contours of a compromise formula.
India and South Africa’s first proposal presented on October 2, 2020 set out a fundamental principle proposed for adoption: “Given this present context of global emergency, it is important for WTO members to work together to ensure that intellectual property rights such as patents, industrial designs, copyright and protection of undisclosed information do not create barriers to the timely access to affordable medical products including vaccines and medicines or to scaling-up of research, development, manufacturing and supply of medical products essential to combat Covid-19.”
Already in October last year it was pointed out that there are several reports about intellectual property rights hindering or potentially hindering timely provisioning of affordable medical products to the patients. In these exceptional circumstances, the proposal read, “We request that the Council for TRIPS (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) recommends, as early as possible, to the General Council (of the WTO) a waiver from the implementation, application and enforcement.”
It asked that “the waiver should continue until widespread vaccination is in place globally, and the majority of the world’s population has developed immunity.” All 164 members of the WTO would need to agree any proposal.
Some indications there may be a third wat. WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance minister of Nigeria, has suggested that pharmaceutical companies offer limited availability to governments and on certain conditions. The challenge is which companies would be prepared to do so. And who would police the contracts and legal arrangements over a plethora of such agreements. The WTO has established itself as an organisation strong on debate but less so on implementing agreements.
All eyes are now again on what India can come up with, together with South Africa that would deliver a third way that wins agreement on all sides and is practical to implement. The first Indian proposal was more a simplistic and moral plea. This time the task is far more challenging. But the very best possible will still come late. For too many, too late.
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Source: News18