Intellectual Property Waiver: India’s Proposal to WTO

25 Feb Intellectual Property Waiver: India’s Proposal to WTO

Posted at 25 Feb 2021 in Current Affairs, Economy, Ethics, Governance, GS Paper II, GS Paper III, GS Paper IV by Ajit Satapathy 0 Comments

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(The Hindu)

Context:

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is under an immense burden to consider India’s proposal of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver on Covid-19 vaccines.
Many European Union lawmakers and a group of least developed countries (LDC) lent their support to India’s proposal of waiving the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) on vaccines.
Almost 90 countries have lent their support for the TRIPS waiver proposal. However, countries such as the US, Britain, and the European Union are against this initiative.

Why the opposition:

The opposition to this is in the view that TRIPS waiver at WTO will stop the innovation at pharmaceutical companies as it will hold off their incentive in order to make investments for R&D.
Also, this move will be counterproductive in the current pandemic situation as it requires the drug makers to keep on researching to deal with a mutating virus.

Why India is pitching:

This waiver will significantly reduce the cost of vaccines. It will also set the platform for the free flow of medicines and technology transfer with other supporting nations.

Facts:

TRIPS: The agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is an international agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization.
It came into force in 1995.