WT/GC/223  
 
24 November 2020  
(20-8492) Page: 1/5 
General Council  Original: English  
 
COVID -19 AND BEYOND: TRADE AND HEALTH  
COMMUNICATION  FROM AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL, CANADA, CHILE, THE EUROPEAN UNION, JAPAN, 
KENYA, REPUBLIC OF KOREA, MEXICO, NEW ZEALAND, NORWAY,  
SINGAPORE AND SWITZERLAND  
The following communication, dated 23 November 2020, is being circulate d at the request of the 
delegation s of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the European Union, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, 
Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore and Switzerland . 
 
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1. The COVID -19 crisis has had an enormous social and economic impact, with more than 
1.1 million deaths and more than 43 million confirmed cases, resulting in a huge strain on the health 
care sector and the largest economic shock the world has experienced in decades. The recent WTO 
forecast suggests that world trade in 2020 will contract by 9.2% compared to 2019. The World Bank 
estimates that in a pessimistic scenario, where COVID -19 outbreak persists, the global GDP could 
shrink by almost 8% in 2020.  
2. Desiring to make international trade a powerful tool to help contain the pandemic and 
contribute to economic recovery, the signatories of this communication invite all WTO Members to 
start working on a Trade and Health Initiative, draft elements of which are p resented in the Annex.  
3. The WTO Secretariat reports that, since the beginning of the crisis, 88 WTO Members have 
taken trade measures that had either restrictive or facilitating character. It appears that today still 
over 70 WTO Members have measures in pl ace that restrict exports of medicaments, medical 
supplies or food. At the same time, Members that implemented liberalizing measures such as 
temporary tariff suspension, expedited regulatory approvals and streamlined customs procedures, 
were able to facili tate trade to their benefit and thus strengthen supply chains.  
4. Notwithstanding positive unilateral actions taken by Members, a global health crisis requires 
a coordinated global response. Public health emergencies will not be effectively addressed without 
resilient, robust and well -diversified supply chains that operate in a predictable trading environment. 
If we are to meet the unprecedented challenge of ensuring availability of essential medical goods, 
including vaccines, in these turbulent times, we must  enhance our cooperation.  
5. In this context, the WTO, as the cornerstone of the international trading system, can help 
deliver an effective global response to crisis situations. Through seeking multilateral solutions, we 
can be better prepared to fight both  COVID -19 and future pandemics.  
6. With this objective in mind, we call on WTO Members to make their utmost efforts to prevent 
further disruptions in the supply chains of essential medical goods. As set out in the Annex to this 
Communication, we propose speci fic actions relating to export restrictions, trade facilitation, 
technical regulations, tariffs, transparency and review, and call for the WTO to enhance its 
cooperation with other relevant international organizations, such as WHO, WCO, OECD as well as 
G20, given the context of the on -going evaluations of the global response to COVID -19. These 
proposed actions are not intended to be prescriptive and do not cover the universe of possible 
measures that could support trade in essential medical goods. Rather, t hey reflect emerging best 
practices and should provide sufficient flexibility to be adapted to differing national circumstances.  WT/GC/223  
 
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  7. Recognizing that multilateral outcomes generate the greatest possible common good, we 
strongly encourage all Members to underta ke actions set out in the Annex and join us in the work 
on a WTO Trade and Health Initiative.  
8. The first step in the work on the Trade and Health Initiative could take the form of a joint 
statement of all Members, which should be adopted in early 2021. In addition to helping fight the 
pandemic in the short -term, such a statement would be intended to serve as a confidence -building 
measure. The short -term actions under the Trade and Health Initiative could also serve as a starting 
point for negotiati ons on new WTO commitments, which, ideally, could be concluded at the 
12th Ministerial Conference. Some signatories to this communication have also signalled an interest 
in exploring commitments relating to tariffs in the healthcare sector and liberalizati on of relevant 
logistics, distribution and transport services, among others.   
9. We realize that the challenges related to the scarcity of essential medical goods, now alleviated 
to some extent by the response on the supply side, may be repeated at the moment  of the 
development of a vaccine or new medical treatments. In this context, we  welcome the COVID -19 
Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX), a global pooled procurement mechanism for COVID -19 
vaccines, managed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition f or Epidemic Preparedness 
Innovations (CEPI) and WHO. This mechanism is critical in securing an equitable share of vaccines 
for all Members of the international community. As we strongly support the objective of this facility, 
we call on WTO Members to ensu re that any export -restricting measures do not pose a barrier to 
the delivery of necessary supplies under the COVAX facility.  
10. We recogni ze the collaborative efforts of private and public stakeholders in the research and 
development of COVID -19 diagnostics , vaccines and treatments. We encourage the industry to take 
actions to ensure access at affordable prices to COVID -19 diagnostics, vaccines and treatments for 
vulnerable populations and support voluntary pooling and licensing of IP rights to accelerate th e 
development of such diagnostics, treatments and vaccines and scaling up their production. We 
recognize the importance of the IP system in promoting R&D and innovation for access to effective 
treatments. We note that the flexibilities provided by the TRIP S Agreement and reaffirmed in the 
Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health remain available to protect public health 
and to promote access to medicines for all.  
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  ANNEX:  DRAFT ELEMENTS OF A "TRADE AND HEALTH " INITIATIVE  
A successful fight against COVID -19 and any future pandemic requires increased cooperation of WTO 
Members. In order to ensure accessibility of essential goods during a pandemic, disruptions in the 
functioning of supply chains must be minimized,  and efforts must be made to support their resilience 
and robustness.  
 
In response to pandemic -related challenges in international trade, Members could agree on a joint 
statement on a new Trade and Health Initiative. The objectives of such an initiative wo uld be to 
enhance the capacity of the trading system to respond to the public health emergencies and to 
support improvements in the resilience of supply chains.  
 
The initiative could include the following immediate actions in response to the current COVID -19 
crisis, which reflect emerging best practices, and which could pave the way for new WTO 
commitments.  
 
EXPORT RESTRICTIONS  
Members will:  
 
- review and promptly eliminate unnecessary existing restrictions on exports of essential 
medical goods necessary to  combat the COVID -19 pandemic;1 and 
 
- exercise restraint in the imposition of any new export restrictions, including export taxes, 
on essential medical goods and on any prospective vaccine or vaccine materials.  
 
In doing so, Members will:  
 
- ensure that any measures deemed necessary to prevent or relieve critical shortages are 
implemented in a manner that is targeted, transparent, proportionate and temporary and 
consistent with WTO obligations;  
 
- give particular consideration to the interest o f the least developed and developing countries, 
many of which have scarce manufacturing capacities and are highly dependent on imports, 
in order to avoid a negative impact of such measures on their access to essential medical 
goods; and,  
 
- ensure that any trade measures, including export restrictions, do not disrupt the provision 
of humanitarian shipments of essential medical goods, nor the work of the COVAX facility in 
distributing vaccines.  
 
Any export restrictions should be promptly notified to the WTO a nd published on a domestic website. 
The notification should include justification of the measures and an explanation of how the measure 
is consistent with the WTO agreements and why it was considered targeted and proportionate to the 
objective pursued. Equ ally, if following the review referred to above, Members decide to continue to 
maintain export restrictions, upon request, they will provide justification for the continuation of the 
measures and an explanation as above.  
 
The period of validity of such mea sures should be as limited as possible and ideally, it should not 
exceed 3 months, subject to a possible extension.  In any event, the duration of export restrictions 
should not exceed the duration of the state of public health emergency.  
 
The above actions  would help ensure equitable distribution of scarce essential medical goods and 
vaccines amongst WTO Members, in particular the most vulnerable ones.  
 
 
1 Members are free to decide what constitutes an essential medical good based on national 
circumstances. It is understood, however, that such essential goods would include pharmaceutical products, 
medical devices as well as any other products required by th e medical sector to fight the COVID -19 pandemic. 
In particular, M embers sh ould take into consideration the indicative list of COVID -19 related goods, established 
by the WCO and WHO . See the 3rd edition of the list available at: http://www.wcoomd.org/ -
/media/wco/public/global/pdf/topics/nomenclature/covid_19/hs -classification -reference_edition -
3_en.pdf?la=en   WT/GC/223  
 
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  CUSTOMS, SERVICES AND TECHNICAL REGULATIONS  
Members will:  
 
- share experiences as regards the trade facilit ating measures that have been put in place in 
response to the COVID -19 crisis with a view to establishing best practices in the context of 
a crisis. Members will consider to what extent they can be made permanent. Such measures 
may include digital customs procedures, and services such as freight, logistics, distribution 
and transport, which have proven an effective tool for members to facilitate the frictionless 
movement of essential medical goods  across borders.  
 
- cooperate in the exchange and implementati on of best practices in the area of standards 
and technical requirements and, through collaboration within relevant international 
organisations, work towards enhanced regulatory alignment with the aim of facilitating trade 
and reducing adaptation costs for  manufacturers of essential medical goods.  
 
To this end, Members will fully engage in the work of the relevant WTO bodies, including the TFA 
and TBT Committees as well as the Council for Trade in Goods and Council for Trade in Services.  
 
TARIFFS  
Members wi ll make best endeavours to temporarily remove or reduce tariffs on goods that are 
considered essential to fighting COVID -19 pandemic, as far as possible, taking into account national 
circumstances. Members may choose the method of implementation of such a temporary tariff 
removal or reduction, which could take the form of emergency duty relief programs. The indicative 
list of COVID -19 related goods, established by the WCO and WHO2 could be helpful in the 
determination of the product scope.  
 
TRANSPARENCY AND REVIEW  
Members will respond swiftly to requests for information on trade measures adopted during the 
present health crisis, including on measures undertaken to implement this initiative, from any other 
Members.  
 
Members will engage fully with the trade monitoring exercises done on a regular or an ad hoc basis 
in the WTO, including the bi -annual Trade Monitoring Report, and pay particular attention to 
complying with all WTO notification requirements during the Covid -19 crisis. The monitorin g and 
notification of measures should allow for a quick identification of disruptions in the supply chains 
and allow Members to enter into consultations with a view to avoiding such disruptions in the shortest 
possible timelines.  
 
The WTO Secretariat shall  make a summary report on the actions implemented by Members under 
the Initiative  which should be made available by the date of the 12th Ministerial Conference.  Members 
will provide any requested information or clarification to the WTO Secretariat for the purpose of the 
preparation of such a report.  
 
COOPERATION OF THE WTO WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS  
Members commend the work of the WTO Secretariat resulting in an extensive database of measures 
related to COVID -19 and a range of dedicated studies and reports al lowing them to have a 
comprehensive and accessible overview of the situation.  WTO Secretariat is encouraged to continue 
that work, focusing on the causes and effects of the disruptions in the supply chains of essential 
goods and drawing on research of other international organizations.  
 
 
2 See footnote 1 . WT/GC/223  
 
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  Given the need to enhance pandemic preparedness and respond to current and future pandemics, 
WTO Director -General is strongly encouraged to intensify cooperation with other relevant 
international organizations such as th e WHO, WCO, WIPO, OECD, UN as well as the G20 with the 
aim of improving the analytical capacity of Members to monitor market developments in trade and 
production of essential medical goods. This would enhance Members ' preparedness for a health crisis 
and c ontribute to the creation of an early warning mechanism in the event of critical shortages of 
essential medical goods.  
 
CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE 12TH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE  
As a next step under the Trade and Health Initiative, Members will take stock of the  effectiveness of 
the above actions at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference with a view to adopting possible 
commitments regarding trade in essential medical goods.  
 
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