India has pitched for an early outcome of the TRIPS waiver proposal for Covid-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), an official release said on Saturday.
Addressing a meeting, which was attended by trade and economic ministers of BRICS countries on Friday, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also stressed on finding a permanent, adequate and equitable solution to the public stock holding programmes for food security purposes. He also asked for adoption of emerging new technologies in a swiftly changing world while finding solutions to the challenges of data protection and cyber security; and ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns. The Minister “emphasised, amongst other things, on the need for a permanent, adequate and equitable solution to the Public Stock Holding programmes for food security purposes; early outcome of the TRIPS Waiver proposal for vaccines,” the release said.
In October 2020, India and South Africa had submitted the first proposal, suggesting a waiver for all WTO (World Trade Organisation) members on the implementation of certain provisions of the TRIPs Agreement in relation to the prevention, containment or treatment of Covid-19.In May this year, a revised proposal was submitted by 62 co-sponsors, including India, South Africa, and Indonesia.
The agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights or TRIPs came into effect in January 1995. It is a multilateral agreement on intellectual property (IP) rights such as copyright, industrial designs, patents and protection of undisclosed information or trade secrets.