Hope of patent waiver? US talks of disparity and EU of flexibility

NEW DELHI: Statements by the US and the European Union on making drugs and vaccines available to everyone has raised hopes that the WTO membership can look forward to a solution, including support for India and South Africa’s proposal for certain waivers in the patent regime under the

TRIPS Agreement

, which has the support of some 120 countries, barring several developed nations.


At an event organised by WTO on Wednesday evening, USTR Katherine Tai recognised the difficulties being encountered in production supply and equitable distribution of mask, gloves and therapies to combat the deadly coronavirus and said there was “a gaping divide between developed and developing countries” on access to medicines.

EU executive vice-president

Valdis Dombrovskis

too suggested that there was a need for flexibility but added that the current regime provided that.

In his address, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said the world was not producing sufficient vaccines due to limited licensing agreements. “To bridge the supply deficit, every tool at our disposal should be used towards producing enough vaccines... We need to create an environment for quick scaling up of global production, not only for vaccines but also other medical products, such as therapeutics and diagnostics,” he said.

Sources said there are indications that a solution that meets the requirements of the poorer countries while recognising the requirement for

IPR

may be in place soon.