Coronavirus: Vaccination

(asked on 9th December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions she has had with her (a) South African and (b) Indian counterpart on the Government’s position on the time limited waiver on covid-19 vaccine manufacture in the global south.


Answered by
Mike Freer Portrait
Mike Freer
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 16th December 2021

I shall answer on the assumption that the Hon. Member for Preston is referring to the proposed World Trade Organisation (WTO)’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver.

Unfortunately, due to the disappointing but correct decision to postpone MC12, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade did not meet with counterparts as hoped. UK officials have met with representatives from India and South Africa on a number of occasions to discuss the issue. These meetings are part of our continued efforts to engage proactively on our collective aim of reaching a pragmatic outcome on the TRIPS debate.

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