US Lawmakers urge Joe Biden to back India, South Africa at WTO on Covid-19 vaccines

American lawmakers have urged United States President Joe Biden to support the move by India and South Africa before the World Trade Organization for an emergency temporary waiver of some Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) rules to enable greater production and supply of COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests. This comes after India and South Africa, along with several other countries, urgently went to the WTO seeking a time-limited waiver of the TRIPS agreement. 

At a news conference on Wednesday, the lawmakers, Rosa DeLauro, Jan Schakowsky, Earl Blumenauer, Lloyd Doggett, Adriano Espaillat, and Andy Levin, urged President Biden to support the emergency temporary waiver at the WTO as requested by countries led by India and South Africa.

The lawmakers said more than 60 US representatives would collectively write to Biden to announce support for the TRIPS waiver proposed by India and South Africa at the WTO.

Nancy Pelosi in support of the waiver 

Previously, Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky had even said that the waiver is supported by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She said that the speaker has said so many times that she has talked to the administration and she is fully in support of this waiver. Schakowsky added that with so many voices, she is optimistic that the right thing can be done by the US. 

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the General Council next week is not expected to make any decision on the TRIPS waiver but will receive a status update from the chair of the TRIPS Council on the state of the talks. Advocates are urging the Biden administration to use that opportunity to lift the US opposition and allow WTO members to proceed to text-based discussions in the council. Along with the US, the European Union, Canada, and Japan have so far opposed the waiver, arguing that intellectual property is critical to innovation and that existing TRIPS flexibilities are sufficient to address any IP-related concerns. The proponents, on the other hand, have maintained that the waiver is needed to allow those with the capacity to ramp up production and ensure poorer countries have equal access to vaccines.