Trade tiffs, Covid jab export bans leave Africa vulnerable

From fresh export bans to a fight over how best to use the global intellectual property (IP) system to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, poor nations especially in Africa sit vulnerable especially at time when a third deadly wave of infections sweeps across the world.

As the EU tighten Covid-19 vaccine export rules on the account of rising third wave of infections, several developed nations including the US, UK, Switzerland, Canada and their allies continue to block a proposal by developing countries to temporarily suspend the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement to enable greatly increased, affordable supplies of Covid-19 vaccines, drugs, tests and equipment.

The proposal by Indian and South Africa had suggested a waiver for all WTO members on the implementation, application and enforcement of certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement in relation to the “prevention, containment or treatment” of Covid-19.

They argue this would avoid barriers to the timely access to affordable medical products, including vaccines and medicines or to scaling-up of research, development and manufacturing.

The waiver would cover obligations in four sections of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement — Section 1 on copyright and related rights, Section 4 on industrial designs, Section 5 on patents and Section 7 on the protection of undisclosed information.

It would last for a specific number of years, as agreed by the General Council, and until widespread vaccination is in place globally and the majority of the world’s population is immune. Members would review the waiver annually until its termination.

According to the proponents, the WTO recommends that an effective response to the Covid-19 pandemic requires rapid access to affordable medical products such as diagnostic kits, medical masks, other personal protective equipment and ventilators as well as vaccines and medicines.

The outbreak has triggered a sharp rise in global demand, with many countries facing shortages, constraining the ability to effectively respond to the outbreak.

As new diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for Covid-19 are developed, there are significant concerns about how these will be made available promptly in sufficient quantities and at affordable prices to meet global demand.

The proponents argue that many countries — especially developing countries — may face institutional and legal difficulties when using TRIPS flexibilities, including the special compulsory licensing mechanism provided for in Article 31bis, which they view as a cumbersome process for the import and export of pharmaceutical products.

A number of developing and developed country members, however are opposed to the waiver proposal, noting that there is no indication that intellectual property rights (IPRs) have been a genuine barrier to accessing Covid-19 related medicines and technologies.

“While acknowledging that the sustained and continued supply of such medicines and technologies is a difficult task, they observed that non-efficient and underfunded healthcare and procurement systems, spiking demand and lack of manufacturing capacity are much more likely to impede access to these materials” WTO says.
Vaccine nationalism

And even as the WTO members remain locked in the feud over intellectual property rights, the European Union (EU) has refined its rules on the export of Covid-19 vaccines on Wednesday, giving it a clearer right to block shipments to countries such as Britain with higher inoculation rates which will also apply to those not exporting their own vaccine doses.

The move risks stoking post-Brexit tensions with London, which has warned Brussels against “vaccine nationalism”.

EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis told a news conference the export authorisation mechanism was not targeting any specific country.

The European Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 27 EU members, set out a proposal expanding existing measures that seek to ensure planned exports by drug-makers do not threaten already reduced EU supply.

The granting of export licences will be based on reciprocity and “proportionality” - the epidemiological situation, vaccination rate and access to vaccines in the destination country.

EU officials say export restrictions could also kick in if companies do respect quarterly contracts but backload supplies at the end of the period.

Mr Dombrovskis says the new rules did not create a detailed algorithm on authorisations and requests would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The scheme will also widen the net to include 17 neighbouring countries, including Israel, Norway and Switzerland. Previously exempted, exports to these countries will also need authorisation.

The proposal is set to be a topic of discussion on Thursday at an online summit of EU leaders, whose countries are struggling with a third wave of infections that has prompted harder lockdowns amid a slow roll-out of vaccines.

EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides says the situation in many EU countries is “alarming”, with increasing cases in 19 EU members and rising fatalities in eight.

While France, Germany and Italy broadly support tighter export curbs on those who do not reciprocate, countries including the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland are more cautious about cutting off the UK.

A French presidential adviser is of the view that the EU should not be a sort of “useful idiot” in the battle against the virus.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin considers that any EU restrictions on vaccine exports would be a “retrograde step”.

A UK government spokesperson notes that all countries were fighting the same pandemic and that Britain would continue to work with European partners to deliver the vaccine rollout.
Low deliveries

The Commission insists it is not an export ban and says priority systems set up for vaccinating citizens in other countries are de facto bans even if they are not called that.

The bloc said it had exported 43 million doses to 33 countries since the end of January, including 10.9 million to Britain. Some 380 export requests were granted and only one was blocked - from Italy to Australia.

The EU has so far authorised four Covid-19 vaccines. AstraZeneca doses were supposed to be the vaccination for the masses, but deliveries have and will be far lower than initially indicated.

EU countries have given dose to about 10per cent of their adult populations and have watched Britain provide at least one vaccination to over half of all adults, suffering almost no delivery problems, despite the same plants officially supplying both.

The Commission proposal will come into force unless a “qualified majority” of EU members oppose it, which is unlikely.