EU proposes multilateral trade action plan to expand COVID-19 vaccine production

(MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) BRUSSELS, June 4 (KUNA) -- The European Union Friday submitted a proposal seeking the commitment of World Trade Organization (WTO) members for a multilateral trade action plan to expand the production of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, and ensure universal and fair access.With this proposal to the WTO, the EU underlines the WTO's central role in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and urges fellow WTO members to agree on a set of commitments, including on intellectual property rights, noted an EU statement.The EU proposal urges vaccine producers to expand their production, while ensuring that those countries most in need of vaccines receive them at an affordable price.In this regard, the EU welcomed the commitment of companies such as BioNTech and Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna, which have already committed to delivering 1.3 billion doses this year to low-income countries at no profit and to middle-income countries at lower cost.The EU is also tabling a report on intellectual property to the WTO body in charge of implementing the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Council)."As regards the broad waiver proposed by a number of WTO members, the European Commission, while ready to discuss any option that helps end the pandemic as soon as possible, is not convinced that it provides the best immediate response to reach the objective of the widest and timely distribution of COVID-19 vaccines that the world urgently needs," it said.According to media reports, India and South Africa submitted a joint proposal at the WTO last October to waive IP rights on Covid vaccines.The proposal, known as the TRIPS waiver, has been blocked by a number of countries, including UK, Switzerland, Japan, Norway, Canada, Australia, Brazil, the EU, but is supported by the US."Beyond the current crisis, it is important to ensure global preparedness for future pandemics: diversifying manufacturing so that it is not centralised only in a handful of countries and strengthening the resilience of the healthcare infrastructure in least developed countries," commented the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. (end) nk.sd MENAFN04062021000071011013ID1102212685