- India has sought an emergency meeting to discuss the WTO’s response package to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic including the patent waiver proposal.
- Expressing disappointment over no progress on TRIPs (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver proposal to deal with the pandemic, India has called for including this proposal into WTO’s proposed response package.
India has sought an emergency meeting of the General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) this month in Geneva to deliberate upon the world trade body’s proposed response package, including patent waiver proposal, to deal with the pandemic amid rising coronavirus infections globally, an official said.
Expressing disappointment over no progress on TRIPs (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver proposal to deal with the pandemic, India has called for including this proposal into WTO’s proposed response package.
The General Council is WTO’s highest decision-making body in Geneva. It meets regularly to carry out the functions of WTO. It has representatives (usually ambassadors or equivalent) from all member governments and has the authority to act on behalf of the ministerial conference which only meets about every two years.
WTO is a 164-member multilateral body that formulates rules for global exports and imports and adjudicates disputes between two or more than two countries on trade-related issues.
In October 2020, India and South Africa submitted the first proposal, suggesting a waiver for all WTO members on the implementation of certain provisions of the TRIPs agreement in relation to the prevention, containment or treatment of COVID-19.
In May 2021, a revised proposal was submitted by 62 co-sponsors including India, South Africa and Indonesia. TRIPs came into effect in January 1995. It is a multilateral agreement on intellectual property (IP) rights such as copyright, industrial designs, patents and protection of undisclosed information or trade secrets.
“We have sought an emergency meeting of the General Council to discuss the WTO’s response package to deal with COVID-19 pandemic including patent waiver proposal. WTO will start its meetings from January 10 and we have suggested convening the meeting immediately,” the official said.
According to a UNCTAD Trade and Development report, developing countries will, by 2025, be as much as USD 8 trillion poorer because of the COVID-19 crisis, and the burden of delayed vaccination estimated at USD 2.3 trillion in terms of lost income will be borne mostly by developing countries.
According to India’s statement delivered by Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the WTO Brajendra Navnit at the General Council Meeting held on 7-8 October 2021, the waiver proposal was submitted (by India and South Africa) On Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary on October 2 last year and “we have lost a whole year and over 5 million lives while discussing this proposal”.
“It is paramount to incorporate the waiver proposal into the WTO’s response package being deliberated upon, and we must ensure this is achieved to ensure a successful MC (Ministerial Conference) 12,” as per the statement.
