Brazil has signaled WTO agreement to negotiate vaccine patent suspension

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian government has said for the first time that it accepts to negotiate and stresses that it will seek “tangible results” in the shortest
possible time frame.

Brazil on Tuesday announced at the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it is ready to start negotiating on the proposed patent suspension during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as influential Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF), had been complaining that Brazil was reluctant to endorse the initiation of negotiations, which was only delaying a solution at the WTO.

Now the Brazilian government has said for the first time that it accepts to negotiate and stresses that it will seek “tangible results” in the shortest possible time frame. Several developed countries were unwilling to negotiate. But the situation began to change when the U.S. said last month that it would discuss proposals on the issue.

However, Brazil’s agreement to start negotiations does not imply support for the proposal put forth by India, South Africa, and 61 other countries to suspend intellectual property rights for 3 years, which they claim is required to increase the production of anti-Covid vaccines.

Government sources have made it clear that the country must maintain a “comfortable leeway” to negotiate between the extremes. The European Union has submitted a counter-proposal to that of the 63-nation group, in a wording that allows for the opening of negotiations on TRIPS (intellectual property rights) Article 31.

This article involves compulsory licensing and also the country’s right to export generic drugs to meet demand from other nations lacking production capacity. The plan would be to expedite the implementation of these flexibilities.

In presenting the Brazilian position on Tuesday at the TRIPS Council, Brazilian Ambassador Alexandre Parola stated that the country “is deeply committed to providing solutions within the WTO framework to support global efforts to end the pandemic.”

“There is no simple formula to address the wide range of challenges involved in the development, manufacturing and distribution of vaccines and therapeutics worldwide,” he added, reiterating that “a holistic solution is called for.”

In this context, the Brazilian representative stated that Brazil has been working on “different fronts to build a robust trade and health framework for the WTO, one that comprehensively addresses the many challenges” and that “we remain open to other proposals that can contribute to further improving the tools available within the WTO to address health crises.”

Brazil signals that it is also looking to the future, to emerge from the current pandemic better prepared for future ones. “It is clear that the world is not equally equipped to fight this pandemic, and this imbalance is something we must urgently address. The production of life-saving drugs and vaccines is highly concentrated in certain parts of the world. This pandemic has proven that this must change,” Parola added.

The Brazilian representative stressed that the discussions in the WTO TRIPS Council focused primarily on intellectual property protection and only marginally addressed the transfer of technology and know-how “that may not flow automatically to potential vaccine and therapeutics manufacturers once intellectual property rights are licensed or suspended.”

Thus, the Brazilian representation advocated “further discussions on the operation of this important practical aspect that is critical to the success of an intellectual property waiver strategy.”

Concurrently, Brazil advocates solutions “that preserve transparency and a sufficient level of legal certainty for stakeholders so as not to unreasonably disrupt cooperative efforts.”

Source: Valor