We are pleased to inform you that a high-level dialogue to discuss the challenges and opportunities concerning the TRIPS Waiver with intellectual property experts, a nobel laureate, a member of the European Parliament, and a US Congressman is being organised on 13th September, 2021 from 6:45 PM to 08:00 PM Indian Standard Time. For further details, please read the announcement below.
High-Level Dialogue—TRIPS Waiver: Challenges & Opportunities?
With 4.6 million deaths officially reported, evidence suggests that the death toll is more than double with the pandemic increasingly concentrated in developing countries and growing. Vaccine access is hugely uneven and inequitable, while therapeutics are in short supply and priced out of reach. Despite global calls for open sharing of knowledge and technology, production of vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics etc., continues to be built on monopolies contributing to inequitable access to those critical medical commodities.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is considering a proposal for a temporary waiver from certain TRIPS obligations (TRIPS waiver) to remove existing and potential legal barriers to create the freedom to operate and collaborate to scale up manufacturing and diversify supply. This proposal led by India and South Africa and co-sponsored by 64 WTO Members has received widespread global support. However, it faces resistance, especially from some high-income countries that have sought to delay and distract from the proposal.
In particular, the European Commission, the official representative of the European Union in the WTO, is opposed to the TRIPS waiver. Instead, it has argued in favour of the status quo through its WTO communication (IP/C/W/681), although a European Parliament resolution supports constructive text-based engagement “for a temporary waiver of the WTO TRIPS Agreement”. In May, the US expressed support for an intellectual property waiver for vaccines but has since been less forthcoming.
The Dialogue will discuss the challenges and opportunities concerning the TRIPS Waiver.
Panelists
- Anna Cavazzini, Member of European Parliament
- Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate, Economist; Professor, Columbia University
- Graham Dutfield, Professor of International Governance, University of Leeds
- Ro Khanna, Congressman, United States House of Representatives
- Siva Thambisetty, Associate Professor of Law, London School of Economics and Political Science
Moderator
Leena Menghaney, Global IP Advisor, MSF Access Campaign
Date & Time
13 September 2021
3:15 PM – 04:30 PM (CEST)/ 6:45 PM – 08:00 PM (IST)
Registration
Kindly register in advance here: https://bit.ly/3hjCrk2.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
This is actually a non-issue. If developing countries have, in their Patent Acts, provisions of sections 84 to 94 as are present in Indian Patent Act, for causes emerging from issues such as access sharing for vaccines, no country needs to go after the rigmarole of pursuing special TRIPs waiver. It becomes their right they can exercise within their own country whenever relevant situation arises.