Letter from Ranil Jayawardena MP to Dr Christos Christou regarding TRIPS waiver

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Ranil Jayawardena MP Minister for International Trade King Charles Street Whitehall London SW1A 2AH T +44 (0) 20 7215 5000 E jayawardena.correspondence@trade.gov.uk W gov.uk

Dr Christos Christou International President Médecins Sans Frontières

Our reference: MCSL2021/01772

By email: vickie.hawkins@london.msf.org

18th March 2021 Dear Dr Christou, Thank you for your letter of 12th March, asking HM Government to reconsider her position on the proposal submitted by India and South Africa regarding a waiver for the provisions of the Agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). As stated at the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) TRIPS Council sessions since October 2020, HM Government has long-supported affordable and equitable access to vaccines, medicines, diagnostics, and other health technologies as part of an effective COVID-19 response, including in developing countries. While intersections between intellectual property (IP) and health continue to be the subject of debate, the United Kingdom believes that the intellectual property framework can support innovators while enabling equitable access to innovative medical products. A waiver of the TRIPS Agreement would risk undermining this framework’s ability to respond to current – and potentially future – crises. Considering the evidence available, the United Kingdom is of the position that the waiver would not be an effective option to address the factors on which access to medicines depends. For example, it remains unclear where case-by-case or product-by-product conditions would preclude access to required COVID-19 related technologies and supplies. It also remains unclear how the proposed waiver could operate effectively in practice, given the waiver’s proposed optional implementation into domestic law. Concerns also remain on non-IP issues – such as domestic capabilities of individual countries. In particular, the waiver fails to address acquisition, storage, distribution and administration requirements related to the vaccine. It fails to provide solutions for considerations ranging from regulatory approval, training and domestic surveillance, which are essential to ensure effective use of the vaccine too. These issues fall outside the scope of the TRIPS Agreement and the proposal being discussed within the TRIPS Council. Exploring these questions is essential for considering a way forward.


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