Australia backs COVID-19 vaccine waiver

Australia will waive IP protections for COVID-19 vaccines to enable more cost-effective copycat versions to be manufactured in developing countries, in the wake of mounting pressure from human rights groups and governments worldwide.

The country’s trade and investment minister, Dan Tehan, confirmed the decision yesterday, September 8, a day after he met with a coalition of national civil society organisations under the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (Aftinet).

Australia became subject to fierce global criticism for being one of the last nations to back the waiver.

Following the meeting, Aftinet issued a media release asking the government to publicly support the waiver during its meeting with India’s representatives on September 11 and at World Trade Organisation talks next Tuesday, September 14.

Minister Tehan then made a statement at a media conference, crediting the US move to support the waiver in May as a deciding factor in Australia’s backing of the waiver

“We continue to work constructively... to do everything we can to expand the production of vaccines globally. Because we need everyone across the globe to get access to a vaccine ultimately if we are to be safe,” he said.

The minister insisted that the country was trying to play a “very constructive role” in helping India and South Africa, which asked the WTO in October 2020 to waive some stipulations governing IP.

South Africa and India sent a letter to the WTO, arguing that certain parts of The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) may prevent or delay access to essential medical products in the fight against COVID-19.

According to a report in The Guardian, Australian officials told a Senate estimates hearing in July that the country viewed the terms of the proposed waiver as too broad.

Pfizer had previously warned the Australian government that supporting the waiver “may invite copycat medicines from suppliers that lack the know-how to manufacture vaccines safely”, the same report revealed.

Under the existing WTO TRIPS agreement, member nations are required to secure patent protection for medicines for at least 20 years.

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