Washington [US], May 6 (ANI): US Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday (local time) hailed the Biden Administration's announcement that they will work to advance a carefully-crafted Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver for vaccines at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), stating that it is a "welcome and key step" in the fight to crush the virus.
Ramaphosa welcomes US support of TRIPS waiver
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Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday welcomed news that the US will support a waiver on certain intellectual property-rights provisions covering coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines.
South Africa and India submitted a proposal for a Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver in October last year.
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Photo: AFP
Not only are the negotiations expected to be lengthy, they are also likely to result in a waiver that is significantly narrower in scope and shorter in duration than the one initially proposed by India and South Africa, trade experts said.
Prior to Biden s announcement, the two countries confirmed their intention to draft a new proposal at a WTO General Council meeting on Wednesday, prompting the body s new Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to express hope for a pragmatic solution.
Ten meetings in seven months have failed to move WTO members toward consensus on the original waiver proposal
updated: May 06 2021, 15:16 ist
Sudden US backing for a global waiver on patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines offers hope to poor nations struggling for doses but the big pharma industry thinks the notion misguided.
Some countries see the temporary intellectual property rights waiver as a shortcut to ending the coronavirus pandemic.
But the pharmaceutical industry thinks an IP waiver will not help produce a single dose more this year, and could actually hamper the rush for vaccines by diverting scarce resources to newcomers.
There will undoubtedly be months of negotiations ahead before a consensus can be found at the World Trade Organization in Geneva.