WTO's TRIPS Council to discuss revised proposal of IPR waiver to deal with COVID-19

According to the revised proposal, the waiver should be in force for at least three years from the date of the decision on the matter.

The co-sponsors have stated that the duration has to be practical for manufacturing to be feasible and viable.

"The revised proposal will now be discussed in the TRIPS Council," the official added.

The revised text has proposed waiver for health products and technologies as the prevention, treatment or containment of COVID-19 which involves a range of things and "intellectual property issues may arise with respect to the products and technologies, their materials or components, as well as their methods and means of manufacture."

The co-sponsors have stressed that the proposed waiver is limited in scope to COVID-19 prevention, treatment and containment.

"The international community is dealing with a novel pathogen, with many uncertainties.

"For instance, investigation is still underway for effective therapeutics, and there are still many unknowns with respect to vaccines which will have a bearing on the scale manufacturing and supply that will be needed to control the pandemic such as the duration of immunity conferred, effectiveness of vaccines against new variants, and the effect of vaccines on children," the submission has said.

The submission was made by these countries to the WTO on Friday.

The communication was circulated at the request of the delegations of the African Group, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Egypt, Eswatini, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kenya, the LDC (least developed countries) Group, Maldives, Mozambique, Mongolia, Namibia, Pakistan, South Africa, Vanuatu, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

Commenting on the revised proposal, Biswajit Dhar, professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the three-year period is important as interested companies look for certainty before taking a decision to make investments.

"Final decision on this will put a moral pressure on WTO member countries to share methods and means of manufacture of products and vaccines to fight against COVID-19," Dhar said.