WTO TRIPS Council Issues 2 Reports on Work for MC13
World Trade Organization members during the Feb. 13 meeting of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights adopted two reports developed by the committee's chair, Thailand's Pimchanok Pitfield, to allow for work to be done during the 13th Ministerial Conference, the WTO announced. MC13 is set to take place Feb. 26-29.
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The reports touched on whether to extend the COVID-19 intellectual property waiver to therapeutics and diagnostics for the virus and on the council's "current and future work under paragraphs 23-24 of the Ministerial Declaration on the WTO Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics," the WTO said. The extension of the COVID-19 IP wavier has garnered fierce criticism from various groups in the U.S., including from former government officials and industry groups (see 2402070062).
The first report includes a "fact- and evidence-based discussion on paragraph 8 of the MC12 Decision on the TRIPS Agreement regarding its possible extension to cover COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics," the WTO said, noting that consensus couldn't be reached.
The second report said the council will continue preparing for future pandemics. In this context, work will continue on "voluntary licensing, technology transfer, the operation of the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), geographical limitations of licences and the operation of Article 31(f) of the TRIPS Agreement," the WTO said. At the council meeting, WTO members couldn't reach a decision on recommendations regarding non-violation and situation complaints under the TRIPS deal.