The tough battle in the WTO to release the patents of the vaccines against covid

The WTO ministers, meeting this Monday – June 13 – in Geneva, did not reach an agreement on the possibility of releasing the patents of the vaccines against covid-19, but they hope to reach an agreement this week.

The Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has made the fight against the coronavirus pandemic a priority since her arrival at the head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in March 2021.

“Put an end to the ‘apartheid’ of vaccines!”, could be read in the poster of some NGOs that protested before the organization on Monday.

At the WTO ministerial meeting, scheduled for June 15 in Geneva, two texts are being debated: one of them aims to facilitate the circulation of the components and products necessary to fight this and future pandemics, and the second , allow the temporary release of patents on vaccines against covid-19.

This last issue divides. On the one hand, the pharmaceutical industry and Switzerland consider that it weakens intellectual property. On the other hand, the NGOs believe that the text is not ambitious enough to be effective.

For the Swiss ambassador Markus Schlagenhof, trade agreements delegate, “pretending that a broad exemption of intellectual property would solve the problem, does not correspond to reality.” “Intellectual property is not part of the problem, but part of the solution,” he added.

The British Minister for International Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, stressed for her part on Twitter that the challenge was to achieve “a satisfactory solution for companies and governments”.

The outcome of the discussions is still uncertain. Since the WTO works by consensus, all 164 member countries must agree.

“We choose death”

More than two years after the appearance of covid-19, vaccination rates remain insufficient in poor countries, especially in Africa. And while vaccines are now produced in sufficient quantities, at the height of the pandemic they were in very short supply in poor countries.

In his speech, Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal lamented the WTO’s “lack of quick reaction”. “Rich countries have to do an introspection! We must hang our heads in shame for not having responded in time to the pandemic,” he said.

India suspended its vaccine exports for many months to meet the needs of its population, despite being the main supplier to the Covax international delivery system.

According to UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, “During a pandemic, sharing technology is a matter of life or death, and we choose death.”

The draft agreement on intellectual property establishes that “eligible developing countries” will be able to produce vaccines “without the consent of the right holder through any instrument available in the legislation” of that country.

But negotiators left several square brackets indicating unresolved areas. For example, the draft agreement proposes that developing countries with the capacity to export vaccines be “encouraged” not to make use of patent release.

It is also expected that developing countries whose share of world exports of doses of vaccines against covid-19 in 2021 has been greater than 10% will not be able to resort to the release of patents, which excludes in fact a China.

China has promised not to use the facilities given to developing countries in the draft agreement, but, according to several diplomats, the United States would like to see it commit in writing.