Jaishankar, USTR Tai discuss WTO patent waiver for Covid-19 vaccines, drug

Jaishankar had a meeting with United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai in Washington DC early Friday

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed with United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, the proposal mooted by India and South Africa at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for a temporary patent waiver for the anti-Covid-19 vaccines and drugs.

Jaishankar had a meeting with Tai in Washington DC early Friday (IST). They exchanged views on the proposal originally mooted by India and South Africa and now co-sponsored by at least 60 other nations at the WTO to temporarily waive off the Intellectual Property Rights protection on the anti-Covid-19 vaccines and drugs as well as other medical equipment needed to contain the pandemic.

“Welcomed her (the US Trade Representative’s) positive stance on (the) IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) issues & (and) support for efficient & (and) robust supply chains,” Jaishankar tweeted after his meeting with Tai.

Tai recently announced the decision of President Joe Biden’s administration to reverse the US position and support the October 2, 2020 proposal by India and South Africa to waive four categories of the IPR protections — copyright, industrial designs, patents and undisclosed information — under the Agreement of Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) until the majority of the world population receives effective vaccines and develops immunity to Covid-19.

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The proponents, however, revised the proposal and resubmitted it at the TRIPS Council of the WTO on May 22, suggesting that the waiver should be granted at least for three years. The US in fact extended its support to the proposal only after India, South Africa and the other nations agreed to revise it to add specificity in order to address the concerns of the opponents that the scope of the suggested waiver was too broad.

The revised proposal now set the stage for the negotiation on the final text of the waiver to commence at the TRIPS council of the WTO.

Jaishankar and Tai also discussed ways to boost India-US trade in order to spur economic revival after the Covid-19 pandemic. “Our trade, technology & (and) business cooperation are at the core of our strategic partnership. Enhancing them is vital to post-Covid economic recovery,” the External Affairs Minister posted on Twitter after his meeting with the US Trade Representative.

India and the US were expected to sign a deal to address each other’s concerns over trade barriers after the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then US President Donald Trump in New York on September 24, 2019 – just two days after the two leaders had appeared together at the “Howdy! Modi” event in Houston. But the two sides had failed to narrow differences and the deal had not been signed. A “mini trade deal” with “limited scope” had been expected to be inked after the Trump-Modi meeting in New Delhi on February 25, but it had been shelved, too.