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TWN
Info Service on Intellectual Property Issues (Mar21/10)
Over 250 CSOs & researchers join call in support of TRIPS waiver Geneva, 23 Mar (D. Ravi Kanth) - Amidst a likely COVID-19 vaccine trade war between the European Union and the United Kingdom, more than 250 organizations and prominent researchers have joined the battle in support of a temporary TRIPS waiver at the World Trade Organization in fighting the worsening pandemic that has already claimed more than 2.7 million lives globally. On 22 March, two contrasting and somewhat diametrically opposed developments took place in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Firstly, more than 250 civil society organizations (CSOs), prominent researchers and research organizations issued a clarion call from Washington DC in support of the temporary TRIPS waiver that seeks to suspend the implementation of certain TRIPS provisions relating to copyrights, industrial designs, patents and protection of undisclosed information in ramping-up production of COVID-related diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines until countries manage to contain the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Secondly, a group of 14 trade ministers of the Ottawa Group of countries - Canada, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, the European Union, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom (which joined the Ottawa Group on 22 March), Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Kenya - discussed virtually their trade agenda in which sharp differences came into the open on how to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Incidentally, Kenya remains a co-sponsor of the TRIPS waiver proposal while New Zealand and Chile have shown their inclination to discuss the waiver proposal. The rest of the Ottawa Group, particularly Switzerland, Japan, the EU, the UK, and Norway (which is currently chairing the TRIPS Council at the WTO) are fiercely opposed to the temporary TRIPS waiver on extraneous considerations. STATEMENT BY MORE THAN 250 CSOs AND RESEARCHERS In a strong statement, which was circulated by the Third World Network Information Service on 22 March, the civil society organizations and research organizations supported "the work and interests of millions of researchers, educators, libraries, archives and museums around the world who are contributing to the prevention, containment and treatment of the COVID-19 pandemic through promotion of access to knowledge." The signatories applauded "the efforts of World Trade Organization (WTO) Members to address copyright barriers (highlighted in the TRIPS waiver) to an equitable response to COVID-19." The TRIPS waiver which is now being co-sponsored by 58 countries with support from 61 other members calls for temporary suspension of copyrights, industrial designs, patents, and protection of undisclosed information to enable countries around the world to scale-up the production of COVID-19 related diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines (see IP/C/W/669). Against this backdrop, the signatories argued that "access to copyrighted works, in addition to patents and know-how, is needed to prevent and contain COVID-19 and to develop treatments." They expressed sharp concern that "COVID-19 has aggravated deep inequalities in access to knowledge" and "in some countries with flexible copyright systems, residents are able to access and use essential materials in remote educational, learning and research activities, virtually access and use the collections of libraries and other institutions, and contribute to research on treatments using advanced processes such as text and data mining." Part of the problem is that "these activities are not taking place everywhere because they are not lawful everywhere," the signatories pointed out. They argued that "in too many countries, copyright laws do not enable remote digital uses of works for essential activities," suggesting that "educational uses are too often limited to activities "within" educational institutions or in "face to face" teaching." More disturbingly, "researchers lack the rights they need to use the most advanced research methodologies, such as text and data mining, to help find and develop treatments to COVID-19" in too many countries. "Indeed, the virus itself was discovered by a text and data mining research project that would not be lawful in many countries," the signatories said, arguing that "inequity in the possibilities to use products of knowledge and culture violates the right to health, to receive and impart information, to education, to participate in cultural life, and to benefit from scientific progress." The growing "international solidarity in addressing the copyright barriers to the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19" must be supported as "it is critical that research and other resources are made available immediately everywhere in the world to use and build upon." Therefore, the need of the hour is to remove the "legal barriers to knowledge" as it would complement "efforts to remove patents and other barriers needed for the massive, urgent scale-up of vaccine production," the signatories emphasized. The signatories urged "all WTO Members to endorse the TRIPS waiver proposal, including provisions on copyright" as "such a move will reflect the emergency that COVID-19 presents." Moreover, an early approval of the waiver "will give vital reassurance to governments that they may issue urgent edicts, adopt emergency interpretations of their laws, and amend and otherwise overcome copyright hurdles to access to knowledge needed to address the pandemic," the signatories said. They argued that adopting "the TRIPS waiver is not enough," underscoring the need for "the WTO and other agencies in charge of promoting the public interest in access to and production of knowledge to act urgently to further guide countries in addressing copyright barriers to access to knowledge that have been illuminated and magnified by COVID-19." The signatories called "for urgent action to clarify that all copyright and related rights treaties, including the copyright provisions of the TRIPS Agreement: * Can and should be interpreted and implemented to respect the primacy of human rights obligations during the pandemic and other emergencies, including the rights to seek, receive and impart information, to education, and to freely participate in cultural life and share in scientific advancement and its benefits, while protecting the moral and material interests of authors; * Permit governments to protect and promote vital public interests during a health or other emergency; * Permit governments to carry forward and appropriately extend into the digital environment limitations and exceptions that are appropriate in the digital network environment, particularly during a health or other emergency." Given the large support from international civil society and research-centered organizations, the TRIPS waiver seems to have become an emergency global response with a human face as compared to the stand taken by several members of the Ottawa Group who seem determined to ensure that profits and patents trump the loss of human lives. THE OTTAWA GROUP In the face of live-and-death struggles against the pandemic, the Ottawa Group seeks to (1) oppose the TRIPS waiver, and (2) propagate for its trade and health initiative that seeks "to strengthen global supply chains, as well as facilitate trade in essential medicines and medical supplies." The WTO Director-General Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who took part in the Ottawa Group meeting on 22 March, issued a platitudinous call, saying "we must find a pathway for each and every WTO Member to have access to affordable and equitable vaccines and medical goods in the current and future crises." In a somewhat ambiguous statement, Ms Okonjo-Iweala said "steps to boost manufacturing capacity and improve access to technology and know-how in developing countries are clearly part of this - so is continuously incentivizing innovation and R&D efforts." Despite this statement, the WTO chief is more in favour of a "third way" that allows Big Pharma to oppose the TRIPS waiver, said a TRIPS negotiator, who asked not to be quoted. Ironically, even on the removal of export restrictions on the flow of vaccines, the Ottawa Group of countries opposed to the TRIPS waiver seem divided due to sharp disagreements between the EU and the UK. Without naming the EU, the UK's international trade secretary Ms Liz Truss said "turning to Covid, we have seen the failings of our global trade system exploited during the pandemic by nations raising barriers to trade which the UK completely rejects." "The need to keep free trade flowing has never been greater," she said, arguing that "we must avoid beggar thy neighbour policies - this is a global challenge we must work together to overcome." The UK trade secretary claimed that "at the height of the COVID crisis" the UK championed transparency on trade restrictive measures and encouraged the withdrawal of such restrictions at the G20 and WTO. It is not clear what the EU had said in response to the UK's remarks, but the most powerful leader in the EU, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 23 March supported the European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen's threat to block the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in the bloc from being exported ahead of an EU summit. "I support Commission President Ursula von der Leyen," said Ms Merkel, adding that "we have a problem with AstraZeneca," according to an AFP report on 22 March. The European Commission president issued a warning to AstraZeneca on 19 March that "you fulfill your contract with Europe first before you start delivering to other countries." Apparently, AstraZeneca has delivered only 30% of the 90 million vaccine doses it has promised for the first quarter of the year, according to a report in the Guardian on 22 March. Aside from the tit-for-tat trade vaccines war between the EU and the UK on AstraZeneca's failure to comply with its contractual commitments, the Anglo-Swedish company suffered another setback in the US with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) casting doubts on the company's "incomplete view of the efficacy data". The NIAID's statement came a day after AstraZeneca released data from large-scale US trials that its COVID-19 vaccine is found to be 79% effective in preventing symptomatic disease. In short, the countries that are opposing the TRIPS waiver at the WTO are the same ones that are fighting over access to vaccines and putting the rest of the world at risk by denying an early decision on the waiver.
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