Tag Archives: WTO

Russia withdrew from the council of Europe; WTO, WHO next

Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Important Takeaways:

  • Russia moves to withdraw from WTO, WHO
  • Proposals for ending membership in the international organizations have been sent to the parliament
  • “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a list of such agreements to the State Duma, and together with the Federation Council [upper house of parliament] we are planning to evaluate them and then propose to withdraw from them,” Tolstoy
  • “Russia withdrew from the Council of Europe, now the next step is to withdraw from the WTO and the WHO, which have neglected all obligations in relation to our country,” he said.
  • The decision came amid the sweeping Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine launched in late February. Since then, Russia has been subjected to around 10,000 targeted restrictions, making it the world’s most sanctioned country.

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Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

(Reuters) – The head of the World Health Organization has called for launching negotiations this year on an international treaty to boost pandemic preparedness, as part of sweeping reforms envisioned by member states.

EUROPE

* Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious disease is to reduce the coronavirus risk level for the country to “high” from “very high” as the situation improves, Health Minister Jens Spahn said.

* Spain is considering easing rules on wearing face masks outdoors, as early as in mid-June.

AMERICAS

* With half the country at least partially protected against the coronavirus, Americans escaped their pandemic doldrums over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* South Korea closed its first phase of reservations for Johnson and Johnson vaccines as military personnel signed up for all 800,000 shots on offer, the government said.

* A shipment of coronavirus vaccines to North Korea via the global COVAX sharing program that was expected for late May has been delayed again amid protracted consultations, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said.

* Australia’s Victoria state authorities said it was still unclear whether a snap one-week lockdown to contain a fresh COVID-19 outbreak would end as planned on Thursday night, as the state grapples with a growing virus outbreak.

* Japan plans to start vaccination at workplaces and universities on June 21 to speed up the country’s inoculation drive.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Dubai, the second-largest member of the United Arab Emirates federation, has started offering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to 12-15 year old’s, the government media office said on Twitter.

* Turkey further eased measures including partially lifting a weekend lockdown and opening restaurants to a limited number of guests.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* A Wuhan-based affiliate of China’s Sinopharm said the start of operations at a new factory will raise the annual production capacity of its COVID-19 vaccine to at least 1 billion doses.

* A deal on an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organization was no closer to acceptance on Monday despite Washington’s backing, due to expected skepticism about a new draft, sources close to the talks told Reuters.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Global stocks again hit record highs and oil rose on Tuesday, before European and U.S. data that should this week offer major clues to the health of the world economy.

* Euro zone manufacturing activity expanded at a record pace in May, according to a survey which suggested growth would have been even faster without supply bottlenecks that have led to an unprecedented rise in input costs.

* Ireland will begin to gradually phase out temporary coronavirus-related jobless payments later this year while maintaining other income and business supports as the economy fully reopens, Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath said.

* Turkish factory activity shrank in May for the first time in a year as output and new orders slowed down due to a 17-day full lockdown imposed to curb a surge in new coronavirus cases, a survey showed.

(Compiled by Jagoda Darlak and Ramakrishnan M.; Editing by William Maclean)

G7 criticizes nations who undermine global trade in rallying cry for reform

By William James

LONDON (Reuters) -Trade ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations criticized countries who undermine the global trading system and called for democratic states to rally behind reforms of the international trade rulebook.

Following a virtual meeting, the G7 members said they were concerned about “increased use of non-market policies and practices” and took aim at those who use heavy subsidies, mask the state’s involvement in the economy, and steal technology.

“These distort competition and reduce fairness and trust in the system,” they said in a communique issued by Britain, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7 this year.

“Fundamentally, we note that they are a threat to the integrity and sustainability of the rules-based multilateral trading system.”

The communique did not refer to China directly, but members like Britain have accused Beijing of undermining the system by using all the policies mentioned.

China, a World Trade Organization member since 2001, has denied criticism that it steals intellectual property, unfairly hurts the environment or improperly trades goods made with forced labor.

In another indirect reference to China, the communique also called on countries which use World Trade Organization rules designed for developing economies to their advantage, and called for the rules to be changed to prevent that.

Britain and other WTO members have previously argued that China benefits from exceptions to the rules which were made decades ago and no longer reflect its status as an economic superpower.

“We call on advanced WTO Members claiming developing country status to undertake full commitments in ongoing and future WTO negotiations,” the communique said.

The group held “frank and constructive” discussions regarding reform of the WTO dispute resolution system – parts of which were paralyzed in recent years by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.

They said those discussion would continue at a further meeting in October, and more broadly expressed support for WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s efforts to reform the organization.

(Reporting by William James; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Toby Chopra and Nick Macfie)

Vaccine waiver talks a chance for WTO to show its relevance -U.S. trade chief Tai

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Thursday that World Trade Organization negotiations over intellectual property waivers for COVID-19 vaccines is a chance for the deeply divided trade body to make itself relevant to the world’s needs.

Tai, speaking to the House Ways and Means Committee, said she was committed to entering negotiations that take into account concerns from all sides, including drug companies.

“The WTO has not got a record of moving quickly, or getting to yes, across 164 members who must all agree, very often,” Tai said. “This is the opportunity for the WTO to show its relevance for mankind.”

For a second day in a row, Tai heard criticism from Republican lawmakers that the intellectual property rights waiver will give critical biopharmaceutical technology to China, Russia and other strategic rivals while failing to increase vaccine supplies.

Republican Representative Devin Nunes told Tai that he is concerned China is one of the few countries that could quickly manufacture messenger RNA vaccines, a technology partly developed with U.S. tax dollars.

“It really seems like they (China) want to steal this very new technology, especially as it relates to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.”

Tai said the administration was working to exercise leadership on the issue to try to reach a solution that saves lives and puts the world back on a faster growth track, which will benefit the United States.

India and South Africa, the proponents of the original, much broader proposal are expressing “that they feel extremely vulnerable in not having access to vaccines and not being able to make them either,” Tai said,

On Wednesday, Tai told a Senate hearing that companies making vaccines could be “a hero” by helping the world gain increased access to COVID-19 vaccines.

She declined to discuss details of her consultations with drug companies before announcing the decision to join WTO waiver negotiations last week, but said that some are driven by more than their obligations to shareholders.

“Some of them do see themselves as important actors in the public health ecosystem in the world.”

Tai said that the intellectual property waiver was just one of a number of actions that would be required to increase manufacturing and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world.

(Reporting by David LawderEditing by Marguerita Choy)

Britain open to talks over vaccine waivers with U.S, others at WTO

By Alistair Smout

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain is open to talks with the United States and other World Trade Organization members on the issue of IP waivers for COVID-19 vaccines, a government spokesman said after pressure from charities to back U.S. proposals.

U.S. President Joe Biden last week threw his support behind waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines.

British and European Union officials have been skeptical about the usefulness of the proposal, while saying they are prepared to discuss it.

“We are engaging with the U.S. and other WTO members constructively on the TRIPS waiver issue, but we need to act now to expand production and distribution worldwide,” the British government spokesman said, adding WTO negotiations on the waiver would be lengthy as they would need unanimous support.

“So while we will constructively engage in the IP discussions, we must continue to push ahead with action now including voluntary licensing agreements for vaccines.”

Britain has promised to donate surplus vaccines to other countries when it is able to, but says it has no spare shots to give at the moment.

About two-thirds of the adult population of Britain has received a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while Britain has ordered 517 million doses in all.

PEOPLE’S VACCINE

Hundreds of charities, academics and politicians this week signed a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on him to back Biden’s move on IP waivers.

Pharma companies and other critics of the waiver move say producing COVID-19 vaccines is complex and setting up production at new facilities would divert resources from efforts to boost production at existing sites, potentially compromising safety.

On Tuesday around a dozen protesters sat outside AstraZeneca’s headquarters in Cambridge, eastern England, to coincide with the pharma firm’s annual general meeting (AGM). Some chained themselves to the doors and others unfurled a banner saying “People’s Vaccine not Profit Vaccine.”

AstraZeneca, which has entered into manufacturing partnerships to produce Oxford University’s vaccine candidate globally, has pledged to not profit from sales of the vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic, though the campaigners highlight that the company can determine when that pledge ends.

Asked about the British government’s stance, an AstraZeneca spokesman said the company agreed that the “extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures”, and that this had already informed its approach.

“We have established 20 supply lines spread across the globe and we have shared the IP and know-how with dozens of partners,” the spokesman told Reuters. “In fact, our model is similar to what an open IP model could look like.”

AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said last month that it would maintain its no-profit pledge into 2022, and would keep no-profit or modest pricing for parts of the world thereafter.

(Additional reporting by Andy Couldridge in Cambridge, editing by William James, Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Heinrich)

Five EU countries say focus should be on vaccine production, not patents

By John Chalmers and Marine Strauss

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Five European Union countries distanced themselves on Friday from the idea of waiving patent rights on coronavirus vaccines, saying the key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic was making more vaccines quickly.

Leaders of the 27-nation bloc were to discuss the suggestion, backed by U.S. President Joe Biden, at a two-day summit that opened in the Portuguese city of Porto on Friday, but are divided about its usefulness.

Experts say waivers could take years to negotiate, and would not address the immediate need to manufacture more doses fast.

“What is the current issue? It is not really about intellectual property. Can you give intellectual property to laboratories that do not know how to produce and will not produce tomorrow?” French President Emmanuel Macron said on entering the talks.

“The main issue for solidarity is the distribution of doses,” he said, adding that France was working hand in hand with Germany on the issue. Berlin expressed its opposition to the idea on Thursday.

Biden on Wednesday backed a call from India and South Africa to waive patent protection for COVID-19 vaccines, responding to pressure from Democratic lawmakers and more than 100 other countries, but angering pharmaceutical companies.

Some EU officials argue that it could take two years to agree on the waivers in the World Trade Organization (WTO), most likely making it irrelevant to the current pandemic.

DIFFICULT PROCESS

The EU leaders are likely to hear advice from the bloc’s executive, the European Commission, that a waiver would not help to boost production, especially in poorer countries, as the manufacturing process requires advanced technologies and facilities, officials said.

The U.S. firm Moderna waived patent rights in October on its vaccine, which uses using the latest mRNA technology, but no other firm has yet announced that it will try to copy the shot.

Germany, home to BioNTech, which owns a patent on another mRNA vaccine developed jointly with Pfizer of the United States, opposes waivers, while Italy supports them, EU officials said.

While the pandemic rages, the chances are high that even more dangerous new variants of the coronavirus will emerge.

The pharmaceutical industry argues that the most expedient approach is to overcome existing production bottlenecks, and sell or donate vaccines to countries around the world.

“No one we will be safe until we all are. If vaccination takes place only in developed countries, our victory over COVID-19 will only be short-lived. We are seeing how quickly the virus is mutating, creating new variants that entail new challenges,” the leaders of Belgium, Sweden, France, Denmark and Spain said in a joint letter to the Commission.

“Vaccines have become security policy and the EU cannot afford to lag behind; to this end, an increased European production capacity will be a key priority,” they said.

The EU, which is among the biggest producers of vaccines in the world, is also the main exporter, with 200 million doses already shipped outside the bloc. The United States and Britain have not exported any of the vaccines they have made.

(Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Phil Blenkinsop, Francesco Guarasio and Gabriela Baczynska; Writing by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

U.S. backs giving poorer countries access to COVID-19 vaccine patents, reversing stance

By Andrea Shalal, Jeff Mason and David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Wednesday threw his support behind waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, bowing to mounting pressure from Democratic lawmakers and more than 100 other countries, but angering pharmaceutical companies.

Biden voiced his support for a waiver – a sharp reversal of the previous U.S. position – in remarks to reporters, followed swiftly by a statement from his top trade negotiator, Katherine Tai, who backed negotiations at the World Trade Organization.

“This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures,” Tai said in a statement, amid growing concern that big outbreaks in India could allow the rise of vaccine-resistant strains of the deadly virus, undermining a global recovery.

Shares in vaccine makers Moderna Inc and Novavax Inc dropped several percent in regular trade, although Pfizer Inc stock fell only slightly.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called Biden’s move a “MONUMENTAL MOMENT IN THE FIGHT AGAINST #COVID19” on Twitter, and said it reflected “the wisdom and moral leadership of the United States.”

Pharmaceutical companies working on vaccines have reported sharp revenue and profit gains during the crisis. The industry’s biggest lobby group warned that Biden’s unprecedented step would undermine the companies’ response to the pandemic and compromise safety.

One industry source said U.S. companies would fight to ensure any waiver agreed upon was as narrow and limited as possible.

Robert W. Baird analyst Brian Skorney said he believed the waiver discussion amounted to grandstanding by the Biden administration and would not kick off a major change in patent law.

“I’m skeptical that it would have any sort of broader long- term impact across the industry,” he said.

Biden backed a waiver during the 2020 presidential campaign in which he also promised to re-engage with the world after four years of contentious relations between former President Donald Trump and U.S. allies. Biden has come under intensifying pressure to share U.S. vaccine supply and technology to fight the virus around the globe.

His decision comes amid a devastating outbreak in India, which accounted for 46% of the new COVID-19 cases recorded worldwide last week, and signs that the outbreak is spreading to Nepal, Sri Lanka and other neighbors.

NEGOTIATIONS TO TAKE TIME

Wednesday’s statement paved the way for what could be months of negotiations to hammer out a specific waiver plan. WTO decisions require a consensus of all 164 members.

Tai cautioned deliberations would take time but that the United States would also continue to push for increased production and distribution of vaccines – and raw materials needed to make them – around the world.

The United States and several other countries previously blocked negotiations at the WTO about a proposal led by India and South Africa to waive protections for some patents and technology and boost vaccine production in developing countries.

Critics of the waiver say producing COVID-19 vaccines is complex and setting up production at new facilities would divert resources from efforts to boost production at existing sites.

They say that pharmaceutical companies in rich and developing countries have already reached more than 200 technology transfer agreements to expand delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, a sign the current system is working.

The WTO meets again on Thursday, but it was not immediately clear if the U.S. decision would sway other opponents, including the European Union and Britain.

The U.S. government poured billions of dollars into research and advance purchases for COVID-19 vaccines last year when the shots were still in the early stages of development and it was unclear which, if any, would prove to be safe and effective at protecting against the virus.

Wednesday’s move allows Washington to be responsive to the demands of the political left and developing countries, while using WTO negotiations to narrow the scope of the waiver, said one source familiar with the deliberations. It also buys time to boost vaccine supplies through more conventional means.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said such a patent waiver “amounts to the expropriation of the property of the pharmaceutical companies whose innovation and financial investments made the development of COVID-19 vaccines possible in the first place.”

But proponents say the pharmaceutical companies would suffer only minor losses because any waiver would be temporary – and they would still be able to sell follow-on shots that could be required for years to come.

Pfizer said on Tuesday it expects COVID-19 vaccine sales of at least $26 billion this year and that demand for the shots from governments around the world fighting to halt the pandemic could contribute to its growth for years to come.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Jeff Mason and David Lawder; Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Michael Erman, Patricia Zengerle and Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Peter Cooney)

U.S. says China has fallen short on ‘Phase 1’ intellectual property commitments

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -China has fallen short on its commitments to protect American intellectual property in the ‘Phase 1’ U.S.-China trade deal signed last year, the Biden administration’s trade office said on Friday.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s “Special 301” report on intellectual property said that China had made amended its Patent Law, Copyright Law and Criminal Law last year and published several draft regulatory measures on IP.

“However, these steps toward reform require effective implementation and fall short of the full range of fundamental changes needed to improve the IP landscape in China,” USTR said.

The commitments were part of the sweeping deal between former president Donald Trump’s administration and Beijing, which included regulatory changes on agricultural biotechnology and commitments to purchase some $200 billion in U.S. exports over two years.

The USTR report said that there remained uncertainty about the effectiveness of Chinese legal changes, while long-standing problems with trademarks and counterfeiting persist. It also said that Chinese officials have made statements that intellectual property rights should be linked to national security and the need to develop “indigenous” innovation.

“Such statements and measures raise concerns about requiring and pressuring technology transfer and about whether IP protection and enforcement will apply fairly to foreign right holders in China,” USTR said.

China was kept on a “priority watch list” for intellectual property rights enforcement problems, along with Argentina, Chile, India, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Venezuela.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told senators earlier this week that her office has not yet scheduled a high-level consultation with China, required twice a year, but would work to hold China to its Phase 1 commitments, including goods purchases.

“We’re continuing to engage with China to make sure that the commitments are implemented,” another USTR official told reporters on Friday.

Asked about a waiver of vaccine intellectual property rights proposed by some World Trade Organization countries, the official said the Biden administration was working with global partners, including WTO members, “to explore pragmatic and effective steps to surge production and equitable distribution of vaccines.”

(Reporting by David Lawder, Editing by William Maclean)

New WTO chief calls for tripling of vaccine production

By Emma Farge and Philip Blenkinsop

GENEVA (Reuters) – The new chief of the World Trade Organization (WTO) urged its member states on Monday to work with pharmaceutical companies to license more COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing in developing countries in order to triple global production.

“People are dying in poor countries,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on her first day in office. “The world has a normal capacity of production of 3.5 billion doses of vaccines and we now seek to manufacture 10 billion doses.”

Her call comes as a group of developing countries led by South Africa and India seek to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 drugs and vaccines, a move opposed by the United States, the European Union and other wealthy nations.

Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO’s first female and first African director-general, said that, while this debate continued, companies must be encouraged to open up and license more viable manufacturing sites now in developing countries.

In a speech to the WTO’s 164 member states, she said there was an upcoming world manufacturing convention and urged the start of dialogue with manufacturers associations.

After a long campaign that was derailed in the latter stages by a Trump administration veto, the 66-year-old Nigerian was confirmed as boss last month, pledging to “forget business as usual” at the WTO, which is struggling to strike new deals and whose arbitration functions are paralyzed.

“READY TO GO”

“It feels great. I am coming into one of the most important institutions in the world and we have a lot of work to do. I feel ready to go,” Okonjo-Iweala told a reporter on arrival at the WTO’s lakeside Geneva headquarters where she donned a mask and elbow-bumped officials.

The former Nigerian finance and foreign minister aims to revive the global trade watchdog ahead of a major year-end meeting, saying she feared the world was leaving the WTO behind.

WTO delegates agreed to hold the next major ministerial conference in Geneva from Nov. 29.

The meeting was originally due to be held in Kazakhstan in 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic. Okonjo-Iweala has said she hopes ministers at the year-end meeting can finalize deals on ending fisheries subsidies and reforms for the WTO’s top appeals body.

Since the WTO director-general holds few executive powers, some analysts question her ability to revive the body in the face of so many challenges, including persistent U.S.-China trade tensions and growing protectionism heightened by the pandemic.

(Reporting by Emma Farge and Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; editing by Ed Osmond and Gareth Jones)

WTO cancels meeting aimed at breaking leadership impasse

By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Trade Organization has cancelled a meeting on Nov. 9 to decide on the appointment of Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the body’s next director general after the United States rejected her as a candidate.

Trade sources said they thought a factor in the delay was that there had been no indication the Trump administration – which will continue to govern trade policy in the weeks ahead irrespective of any U.S. election result – had switched its support to Okonjo-Iweala.

A WTO document seen by Reuters said: “For reasons including the health situation and current events, delegations will not be in a position to take a formal decision on 9 November.” It said it had been postponed until further notice.

As well as the impasse over the leadership, Geneva, home to the WTO, implemented COVID restrictions this week including a five-person cap on in-person meetings, although the organization has held many meetings virtually.

The WTO later confirmed the decision on its website, saying consultations would continue. The body usually chooses its new leader by consensus, with trade sources saying they would be reluctant to resort to a vote.

A high-powered WTO panel last month recommended Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance minister, to lead the global trade watchdog, setting her up to become its first African and first woman head.

However, the U.S.-backed South Korean candidate Yoo Myung-hee, has not withdrawn from the race, despite mounting diplomatic pressure.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office.

U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently criticized the WTO, calling it “horrible” and biased towards China. His administration has already blocked judge appointments, disabling its top appeals panel last year.

Okonjo-Iweala, currently chairing the GAVI vaccine alliance board, has vowed “positivity all the way” on her Twitter feed.

“Dr. Ngozi is very grateful for the WTO’s support and she’s ready to get to work as soon as possible,” her spokeswoman Molly Toomey said.

The Geneva-based body has been run by four deputies since Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo stepped down a year early in August.

(Reporting by Emma Farge and Philip Blenkinsop; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by David Goodman and Mark Potter)