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17-12-2021, 08:48 AM
17 Dec 2021 04:06AM
(Updated: 17 Dec 2021 04:23AM)
BRUSSELS: The World Trade Organization is close to resolving a dispute over how to spread COVID-19 vaccines more widely and fairly, but facing an "orchestrated effort" to block a deal, the body's chief said on Thursday (Dec 16).
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters she had held talks this month with trade ministers from India, South Africa, the European Union and the United States on how to break an impasse over the issue of intellectual property rights.
Agreement is needed to allow some technology transfer to developing countries without manufacturers there at risk of being sued, she said.
This could help redress the gap between the vaccination rate in Africa of only 8 per cent and 67 per cent in developed countries that she pointed to, as well as providing vaccines that were affordable and easy to distribute.
......
India and South Africa have proposed waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, but developed members such as the European Union, Britain and Switzerland argue it would be better to use existing WTO rules that allow countries to award licences to local producers.
Discussions on the issue at the WTO, which takes decisions by consensus, have been deadlocked for more than a year. Okonjo-Iweala said she had brought the main actors together, with technical experts now trying to settle details.
However, the WTO head said information on delicate negotiations had since been exposed through leaks to the media, putting a "chill" on the process.
"It's not inadvertent. I think it's a deliberate means of stopping negotiations and stopping an answer. The thing is millions of lives depend on this ... Continents like Africa are waiting for this," she said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/wt...it-2385386
(Updated: 17 Dec 2021 04:23AM)
BRUSSELS: The World Trade Organization is close to resolving a dispute over how to spread COVID-19 vaccines more widely and fairly, but facing an "orchestrated effort" to block a deal, the body's chief said on Thursday (Dec 16).
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters she had held talks this month with trade ministers from India, South Africa, the European Union and the United States on how to break an impasse over the issue of intellectual property rights.
Agreement is needed to allow some technology transfer to developing countries without manufacturers there at risk of being sued, she said.
This could help redress the gap between the vaccination rate in Africa of only 8 per cent and 67 per cent in developed countries that she pointed to, as well as providing vaccines that were affordable and easy to distribute.
......
India and South Africa have proposed waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, but developed members such as the European Union, Britain and Switzerland argue it would be better to use existing WTO rules that allow countries to award licences to local producers.
Discussions on the issue at the WTO, which takes decisions by consensus, have been deadlocked for more than a year. Okonjo-Iweala said she had brought the main actors together, with technical experts now trying to settle details.
However, the WTO head said information on delicate negotiations had since been exposed through leaks to the media, putting a "chill" on the process.
"It's not inadvertent. I think it's a deliberate means of stopping negotiations and stopping an answer. The thing is millions of lives depend on this ... Continents like Africa are waiting for this," she said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/wt...it-2385386
