Debate: Meeting the Global COVID- challenge: effects of waiver of the WTO TRIPS agreement on COVID- vaccines, treatment, equipment and increasing production and manufacturing capacity in developing countries
Date: WEDNESDAY, 19 MAY 2021
Speaker: Valdis Dombrovskis
Language: EN

So what has the European Union done so far? First, we have spearheaded research and innovation for the development of safe and effective vaccines. Second, we have supported industry to increase production of vaccines and address the main supply-chain bottlenecks. Third, we have exported 50% of our production, more than 200 million doses, to 45 countries. Fourth, we have massively financed the COVAX facility and shared our vaccines via COVAX, up to 67 million doses so far, as well as bilaterally.  Team Europe is working to significantly ramp up donations through COVAX in the second half of 2021. Vaccine-sharing announced by EU Member States amounts to 11.1 million doses of which 9 million is shared via COVAX. So it is very clear that we have led the way, but as the fight is far from over more can and must be done. At this crucial moment, universal and fair access to vaccines and treatments must be the global community’s number one priority. The single most effective way to achieve this is clear. We need to continue to ramp up production. We need to share vaccines wider and faster, and we need to make vaccines affordable. Indeed this process is already underway. Global production of vaccines is rapidly increasing. It is estimated that 10 billion doses of COVID vaccines will be produced in 2021. We have more than 200 licensing and technology agreements between pharmaceutical companies in place as we speak, but we need to do even more. In particular, we need to ensure vaccination of the most vulnerable populations in the low and middle-income countries at affordable cost.  The dire situation that India is going through besides being a terrible humanitarian crisis is also having an impact on global vaccination since Indian production is now focused on accelerating domestic rollout. So the EU has a renewed responsibility as a major producer and exporter of vaccines to ensure global access, especially for the most vulnerable.  The rules-based global trading system can and should contribute towards this goal. We have been involved in various discussions at the World Trade Organization. The Commission intends to present soon a proposal to the WTO focusing on three components. First, trade facilitation and disciplines on export restrictions. Second, expansion of production, including through pledges by vaccine producers and developers, and third, clarification and facilitation of the TRIPS Agreement flexibilities relating to compulsory licences. So let me explain each of these three elements.  Our first aim is to commit to limit the application of export restrictions and keep supply chains open. Vaccine-producing countries should be ready to export a fair share of their domestic production. It should also be clear that no restrictions of any kind are applied to supplies to the COVAX Facility, and no measures should be taken to limit trade in inputs for vaccine and therapeutics production.  Our second objective is that governments should strongly encourage vaccine manufacturers and developers to expand production and ensure adequate supply of vaccines at production cost to low and middle-income countries during the pandemic. Such actions could include licensing agreements providing for a sharing of know—how, tiered pricing, contract manufacturing, and new investments in manufacturing capacities in developing countries.  We expect all vaccine producers and developers to make concrete pledges that support increased supplies to vulnerable developing countries. This is the best way to speed up supply in the EU and globally, and this is the best way to tackle new variants of the virus. The third element relates to intellectual property. While voluntary licences are more effective as an instrument to facilitate expansion of production and sharing of know—how, compulsory licences are a perfectly legitimate tool in the context of a pandemic. It is therefore important for each WTO member to ensure that its legal framework on compulsory licensing is effective, and for the international community to facilitate such actions. This would entail WTO members agreeing on the following. First, the pandemic is a circumstance of national emergency and therefore the requirement to negotiate with the rights holder may be waived. Second, when a compulsory licence is granted to a manufacturer ready to provide vaccines at manufacturing cost, this should be supported by setting out a remuneration for the patent-holder that entails no profit. And third, the compulsory licence could cover any exports to countries that lack manufacturing capacity, including via COVAX. Beyond these proposals the Commission stands ready to fully support the WTO Director-General in her efforts to ensure equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. We are also open to examining other options as long as they contribute to the objective of expanding production and facilitating an equitable access to vaccines and therapeutics. In this respect, the EU is ready to engage constructively to examine the extent to which proposals related to a targeted and time-limited waiver from intellectual property rights contribute towards these objectives. In any event it may take some time to increase the production in developing countries with available capacity. We therefore plan to launch an initiative to help scale-up vaccine manufacturing in Africa.  In the meantime, the Commission calls on countries which are already capable of producing vaccines and have vaccinated a large part of their population to follow the EU example and immediately start to share their production with other countries in need. To conclude, I reiterate: ramping up production and sharing vaccines wider, faster and at affordable cost is the single most effective way to fight the pandemic in all regions of the world in this critical moment.