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Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Dec21/02) Geneva, 30 Nov (D. Ravi Kanth) – Despite the growing uncertainties as well as the health risks stemming from the new Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, attempts are underway to re-convene the WTO’s postponed 12th ministerial conference (MC12) in early March, a move that appears to accord primacy to the WTO’s trade liberalization and market access agenda than to agreeing to the temporary TRIPS waiver on a “war footing”, said people familiar with the development. Instead of resolving the issue of the temporary TRIPS waiver expeditiously for scaling-up the production of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines across countries, the WTO seems to be more concerned with concluding the negotiations on fisheries subsidies as well as on the General Council-appointed facilitator Ambassador David Walker’s draft ministerial decision on the WTO’s response to the pandemic, said people, who asked not to be quoted. On 29 November, the WTO secretariat’s General Council division and the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) division sent an email to members, which contained a letter from four trade ministers from Kazakhstan, Uganda, Australia, and Barbados to their counterparts from the 160 other countries. “Grateful if your Mission could kindly forward this letter to the relevant authorities in your capital,” the General Council and the TNC divisions conveyed to members. In the signed letter, the four trade ministers proposed the re-convening of the postponed MC12 in the first week of March 2022. The four ministers – Mr Timur Suleimenov, the chair of MC12, and the three vice-chairs, namely, Ms Harriet Nitabazi from Uganda, Mr Dan Tehan from Australia, and Mr Jerome Xavier Walcott from Barbados – said that “to keep Members engaged and to be able to take final decisions on all matters before us soon, we are proposing that the postponed in-person Ministerial Conference be convened during the first week of March 2022, if conditions allow.” The four ministers argued that “the postponement, however, should not be a reason for us not to roll up our sleeves” and “to the contrary, the current momentum should be sustained and harvested: we, as Ministers in charge of trade, need to show our solidarity and full support to the WTO at this critical moment.” They want their counterparts “to instruct and empower your Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives in Geneva to continue work in all areas and close agreements as soon as possible.” In particular, they said, “we believe that it is incumbent on the Membership, in the midst of a pandemic, to quickly converge on a WTO response to the pandemic, including finding a sensible solution to its Intellectual Property aspect.” Furthermore, the four ministers wrote, “given that the fisheries subsidies negotiations have progressed substantially in the last few weeks, we appeal to all of you to show flexibility and allow negotiators in Geneva to close the final gaps in this important area as soon as possible.” Though the four ministers emphasized the need to empower trade envoys in Geneva “to continue work in all areas and close agreements as soon as possible,” they did not mention the need to accelerate discussions for outcomes in the Doha agriculture dossier, or the much-pushed controversial WTO reforms proposed by the European Union, the United States, and the Ottawa Group of countries led by Canada, said people, who asked not to be quoted. The letter seems to have been drafted by the WTO secretariat, as certain phrases used in the letter such as “roll up our sleeves” and “empower” trade envoys in Geneva, were previously used by the WTO Director-General Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in her interventions as well as in the run-up to the virtual ministerial meeting on fisheries subsidies on 15 July, said a person involved in the negotiations, who preferred not to be quoted. Several members who spoke to the WTO secretariat expressed dismay as to how the four ministers could suggest the re-convening of the ministerial conference in early March without the General Council’s approval, the person said. Several members seem to be angry over the manner in which negotiations are being pushed amidst the worsening pandemic following the emergence of the new Omicron variant of the virus, the person said. Also, it is not clear whether the four ministers had discussed the logistics with Switzerland, where the meeting is supposed to be held, said people, who asked not to be quoted. If the four ministers are sincere, they should have written to their counterparts to agree on the TRIPS waiver on an emergency basis, and not on the controversial market access and trade liberalization agenda as proposed by the facilitator, Ambassador David Walker from New Zealand, on the WTO’s response to the pandemic, said another person, who asked not to be quoted. Under the apparent pretext of addressing the WTO’s response to the pandemic, attempts are being made to advance the seemingly “discreditable” package of measures suggested by Ambassador Walker that would set the WTO in a perpetual motion of trade liberalization and market access negotiations, said people familiar with the development. CALL FOR URGENT TEXT-BASED TALKS ON TRIPS WAIVER Meanwhile, at a formal TRIPS Council meeting on 29 November, the 64 co-sponsors of the proposal on the temporary TRIPS waiver upped the ante on “the most important issue that is faced by this organization”. The temporary TRIPS waiver seeks to suspend certain provisions in the TRIPS Agreement relating to copyrights, industrial designs, patents, and protection of undisclosed information for a period of three years to ramp-up the production of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines across countries in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. With the emergence of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the need for the TRIPS waiver could not have come a day too soon, according to the global nursing unions. Against this backdrop, the lead co-sponsor of the TRIPS waiver, South Africa, said that the General Council could adopt a waiver if there is consensus. It reminded members that “failure to agree on a multilateral outcome to address IP barriers, coupled with the imposition of restrictions on certain countries that run contrary to the advice and guidance by the WHO, cast a dim light on the ability of the WTO to act in solidarity during an international emergency.” South Africa drove home a strong message that “the very credibility of the WTO will be determined by the outcomes reached in the TRIPS Council and to this end, members need to prioritize urgent text-based negotiations on the TRIPS waiver.” India said it is highly unfortunate that when everybody thought that it was safe to go back to normal, the new COVID variant has dismantled all hopes, putting again in the spotlight the discrimination between vaccinated and unvaccinated people. India regretted that members have not really worked towards what could have saved millions of lives and made everyone safe. “Instead, time has been used in endless consultations and bilateral meetings which have not translated in a meaningful outcome, i.e. text-based discussion on the TRIPS waiver request,” India said. It regretted that what the co-sponsors have said all along about nobody is safe until everybody is safe and the need for the waiver has come true. “We have always stated that the inequity in access to vaccines would lead to the rise of variants that may be more transmissible, more lethal and would circumvent the efficacy of existing vaccines, so how long can WTO members wait and at what cost to start text-based negotiations”, India said. Several developing country coalitions and members aligned their statements with what was said by South Africa and India. Chad, on behalf of the least-developed countries (LDCs), Tanzania, on behalf of the African Group, the Maldives, Pakistan, Bolivia, Vanuatu, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Egypt concurred with the statements made by South Africa and India at the meeting. The US said that President Biden supported the TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 vaccines due to the urgency of the pandemic and the recent development of a new variant emerging, said people familiar with the development. The US said it will continue to engage with members to look for areas of convergence that can lead to a solution. China stated that although MC12 has been postponed, members’ efforts to find a landing zone should not slow down. On the contrary, said China, the new Omicron variant “reminds us once again of the urgency of the work we are charged with.” OPPONENTS TURN A “DEAF EAR” TO CALLS FOR URGENT TALKS ON WAIVER The EU, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, which have opposed the TRIPS waiver on “ideological” grounds, appeared to turn a “deaf ear” again on participating in the discussions on the revised TRIPS waiver proposal. Although the EU has apparently told India that it will not support the waiver, it claimed at the meeting that there is a high level of engagement and possible areas of convergence. The EU, which vehemently opposed the TRIPS waiver, said the right approach after the postponement of MC12 is to keep exploring grounds where landing zones can be found. The EU said that it is possible to find a solution on intellectual property that responds to the need to increase the production and diversification of COVID-19 products, while at the same time maintaining the protection required for incentivizing technology transfer and investment in research and innovation. The United Kingdom said that despite the postponement of MC12, the commitment to reaching a pragmatic and tangible outcome remains and that collaboration by all is the way forward, as the tone of the recent discussions have shown. Switzerland recognized the challenge the world faces in reaching the shared objective of ensuring global, equitable and timely access to vaccines and medicines against COVID-19. It argued that intellectual property protection will also be instrumental to address the new coronavirus variant and future pandemics. Apparently justifying the arguments advanced by the EU, the UK, and Switzerland, the TRIPS Council chair, Ambassador Dagfinn Sorli from Norway, said the reason that the text-based negotiations have not started is that a text has not been agreed to by members as a basis for such negotiations. The chair’s assessment appears to be wrong on the facts because only three members – the EU, the UK, and Switzerland – have blocked progress on “ideological” grounds and not the members at large, said people familiar with the negotiations. The chair, like his counterpart Ambassador Walker on the WTO’s response to the pandemic, seems to have played a rather dubious role in stymying the waiver discussions, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Ironically, on 29 November, Norway said that it will support the TRIPS waiver, according to an opinion piece in the Guardian newspaper.
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