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    Rise above narrow interests, support plan for uninterrupted flow of medicines, vaccines: India tells WTO

    Synopsis

    At an informal mini-ministerial meeting of around 30 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal asked them to “rise above the narrow interests and entrenched positions”.

    Piyush-Goyal---BCCL
    Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal (File Pic)
    NEW DELHI: India on Friday batted strongly for its joint proposal with South Africa for a temporary waiver in global intellectual property rights rules to ensure uninterrupted flow of medicines, vaccines and medical equipment among countries amid the ongoing pandemic.

    At an informal mini-ministerial meeting of around 30 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal asked them to “rise above the narrow interests and entrenched positions”.

    India and South Africa have sought a temporary waiver of TRIPS (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights) obligations to ensure unimpeded and timely access to affordable medicines and medical products amid the ongoing pandemic.

    The proposal seeks exemption from a clause that poses challenges for countries with limited manufacturing capacity in accessing medical supplies including diagnostic kits, vaccines, medicines, personal protective equipment and ventilators.

    The EU, the US, Switzerland, the UK and Japan have opposed the proposal, arguing that waiving IP rights does not address the problems of capacity or raw materials that are currently impeding sufficient supply. They have insisted that the current TRIPS system contains sufficient tools to address any IP-related problems.

    “We are grateful to those who have supported the proposal, but regret the approach of some Members, who are focussed on protecting the gains of a few companies, as against looking at the wider benefit to the human kind,” Goyal said during his intervention.

    The proposal assumes significance as efforts are on to hold a Ministerial Conference sometime this year.

    “Everyone agreed on doing something urgently on Covid-19 response but no one has a clear idea on which proposals to pick,” said an official.

    Farm, e-commerce issues

    Goyal also called for a resolution of the issue of public stockholding, adding that it pained him that every Ministerial ignored the issues of interest to the developing world that have been festering for years. He said that no attempt is being made to address the asymmetries in the Uruguay Round, particularly in agriculture subsidies.

    “Attended WTO's informal ministerial meet & reiterated India's stance to support global efforts to protect lives & rejuvenate growth...Also, called out for more effective special & differential treatment provisions to assist developing nations in furthering economic development," Goyal tweeted after the meeting.

    On the issue of e-commerce, the minister said that though India is keen that discussions should take place in multilateral dialogue, “we strongly believe that developing nations need time as well as the policy space to define their own imperatives”.

    As per the official, almost all participants asked for completion of the process to select a new Director General for the WTO. In October last year, the US opposed the WTO nomination committee’s recommendation to appoint Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as DG and blocked the four-month selection process to find the next head of the watchdog as it supported South Korea's Yoo Myung-hee. Okonjo-Iweala would be the first woman and first African to head the WTO.


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