Dike Onwuamaeze
The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has welcomed the willingness of the United States of America to engage with proponents of a temporary waiver of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to help in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.
The TRIPS Agreement is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the WTO that established minimum standards for the regulation by national governments of different forms of intellectual property (IP) as applied to nationals of other WTO member nations.
The agreement was elaborated in 2001 to state that, âTRIPS can and should be interpreted in light of the goal âto promote access to medicines for all.ââ
PM Modi dials Australian counterpart, seeks his support for intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines
The two leaders discussed the initiative taken at the WTO by India and South Africa for global waiver on patent protection for vaccines. File photo
Updated: May 7, 2021, 05:00 PM IST
Amid the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines reported by several states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday dialled his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison and sought his support for global waiver on patent protection for COVID-19 vaccines.
The two leaders discussed the initiative taken at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by India and South Africa for global waiver on patent protection for the vaccines and agreed on the need to ensure affordable and equitable access to vaccines and medicines for containing COVID-19 globally.
BusinessWorld
May 7, 2021 | 1:56 pm
REUTERS
WASHINGTON â World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations on a waiver of intellectual property rights for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines could take months â provided they can overcome significant opposition from some member countries, trade experts say.
The talks also are likely to focus on a waiver that is significantly narrower in scope and shorter in duration than the one initially proposed by India and South Africa last October.
Prior to US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.âs decision on Wednesday to back talks for a vaccine waiver, the two countries confirmed their intention to draft a new proposal after seven months of opposition.
Posted: May 07, 2021 10:41 AM ET | Last Updated: May 8
Canada not yet waiving COVID-19 vaccine patents
The National21 hours ago
2:07
Vaccine patents are a hot topic at the World Trade Organization. Some countries, including the U.S., argue patents should be waived in the pandemic to increase vaccine supply for the world at a faster pace. Canada is not actively supporting that idea.2:07