India expressed disappointment that no progress had been made on the request to abandon TRIPS to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and called for this proposal to be included in the WTO’s response package currently under discussion. In October 2020, India and South Africa presented the first proposal in which all WTO (World Trade Organization) members would not be able to implement certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement with regard to the prevention, containment or treatment of COVID-19.

In May of 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, entered into force in January 1995. It is a multilateral agreement on intellectual property rights (IP) such as copyrights, designs, patents and the protection of undisclosed information or trade secrets.

According to the statement made by the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the WTO Brajendra Navnit at the General Council meeting on 7-8. October, the waiver proposal (from India and South Africa) was presented on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday on October 2nd last year and ” we lost a full year and over 5 million lives while we were discussing this proposal ”. “It is disappointing, to put it mildly, that we (WTO member countries) have so far only debated and discussed even on such a critical, urgent and exceptional issue, despite the obligation to enter into text-based negotiations, thank you.” ‘said India. It was also noted that although WTO members held several rounds of small group meetings, due to the lack of substantial commitment from a few members, valuable time was “wasted” without result.

According to a recent trade and development report by UNCTAD, developing countries will be up to $ 8 trillion poorer by 2025 due to the coronavirus crisis, and the estimated $ 2.3 trillion burden of delayed vaccination will turn into lost income mostly carried by developing countries. “In the face of such alarming data, it is disheartening to see how the interest of a majority has practically been pushed aside, this nuanced approach to tackling the pandemic is bound to fail. “It is of the utmost importance to include the waiver in the WTO response package under discussion and we need to ensure that this is achieved in order to ensure a successful MC (Ministerial Conference) 12,” it said. The 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) will take place from November 30th to December 3rd, 2021 in Geneva, Switzerland.

It was originally scheduled to take place in Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan from June 8-11, 2020, but has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The waiver component must be completed before this meeting and any WTO response to pandemics without this waiver element would not be credible, it said. Regarding the proposed fisheries subsidy agreement, India has announced that it has put forward a comprehensive proposal that takes into account the demands of developing countries and LDCs (Least Developing Countries) on S&DT (special and differential treatment) for future policy space to diversify and develop fisheries sustainable, in particular on the high seas, where many of these nations are generally absent.

“There is a need for S&DT in the form of carve-outs for low-income, low-resource, livelihood fishing or fishing-related activities up to the coastal member’s EEZ – exclusive economic zone – (200 nautical miles),” said India.