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 "We ... need every WTO member to step up as well and support an
intellectual property waiver, and every company must act ambitiously
and urgently to expand manufacturing now," White House spokesperson
Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
A year after South Africa and India introduced a proposal to
temporarily waive intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines
and therapies at the WTO, negotiations have failed to make any
progress.
More than 100 countries backing the waiver say it will help save
lives by allowing developing countries to produce COVID-19 vaccines,
but the European Union and several countries, including Switzerland,
remain opposed.
U.S. President Joe Biden reversed the previous U.S. position to back
the proposal in May, but a breakthrough has so far failed to
materialize.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala last week conceded the
formal negotiations about a temporary waiver were "stuck," but said
she believed informal talks were intensifying.
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Okonjo-Iweala told a Washington think tank she believed that WTO
members could "find a pragmatic compromise on the IP waiver" that
would ensure equitable access to vaccines, while preserving
incentives for research and innovation.
An EU official described "intense talks" with South Africa about how
to boost the availability of vaccines to developing countries,
potentially breaking the deadlock.
The WTO wants to reach an agreement on the global response to the
pandemic at its ministerial conference in Geneva from Nov. 30 to
Dec. 3.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal; editing
by Grant McCool)
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