India seeks text based talks on patient waiver

New Delhi The World Trade Organisation (WTO) members must infuse some certainty during this crisis by agreeing to initiate text-based talks on the proposed patent waiver proposal to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, India has said.

According to India's statement delivered at a TRIPS informal meeting held on May 31, the country has requested to find ways and means to commence text-based negotiations, even if few members continue with their repeated attempts to delay the process. A proposal was submitted by 62 co-sponsors -- including India, South Africa, and Indonesia -- seeking patent waivers to manufacture Covid-19-related medical products.

In October 2020, India and South Africa had submitted the first proposal, suggesting a waiver on the implementation of certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement in relation to the prevention, containment or treatment of Covid-19. The agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights or TRIPS came into effect in January 1995. It is a multilateral agreement on intellectual property (IP) rights such as copyright, industrial designs, patents and protection of undisclosed information or trade secrets. "The virus has not given us a timeout to go on endlessly discussing the need for or benefit of a waiver. We must rather infuse some certainty in these uncertain times by agreeing to start text-based negotiations on the waiver proposal," India said in the statement.

Not allowing text-based negotiations will do "more harm" to WTO's credibility and this collective failure will be remembered by posterity, according to the statement.