TRIPS Agreement: Coronavirus

(asked on 10th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to put forward amendments to the World Trade Organization’s proposed ‘Waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19’ (IP/C/W/669).


This question was answered on 16th February 2021

The UK Government has put forward no amendments to the proposal contained in WTO document IP/C/W/669 ‘Waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19’


The UK has engaged in debates at the WTO TRIPS Council to promote affordable and equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines. We respect that proceedings from informal WTO sessions are not published. However, at the 4 February session the UK sought further clarification on the parameters of the proposed waiver from waiver proponents. This remains consistent with the Government’s approach to encourage evidence-based discussions on the waiver proposal.

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