Thread by @CoppetainPU

WTO members on all sides were urged today to sort out their reservations over the proposed compromise, so that a deal on waiving some intellectual property protection for COVID-19 can be struck by the Jun 12-15 Ministerial Conference, trade sources say.

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In an informal meeting of the WTO intellectual property (TRIPS) council, Director-General @NOIweala said WTO members have no option but to produce a result for the #MC12 Ministerial Conference, even if that means negotiating round the clock, the sources said.

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Today's meeting was held to take stock of the first two days of real negotiations on the compromise text⬇️, on Mon&Wed, May 16&18. During those sessions, @NOIweala urged delegates to be prepared to compromise: "the perfect is the enemy of the good"

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TRIPS Council chair Amb. Lansana Gberie (Sierra Leone) said the 2 days of talks were "arduous".

It involved 30 delegations, some of them group coordinators, aiming to produce consensus changes to the text.

(See: this⬇️ on small group negotiations: tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/wto…)

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Gberie reported to the membership today that negotiators had been constructive but progress was too slow to meet the deadline.

Some delegations commented today that it was unrealistic to expect a text that had been produced over 5 months to be sorted out in two weeks.

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The text⬇️ emerged from talks among the "Quad" (EU, India, S-Africa, US).

Among the issues debated:

• The duration for applying the decision
• Whether to include therapeutics and diagnostics immediately, as well as vaccines ...

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... and

• Par 3(a) on "single authorisation", which is in brackets (ie even less accepted than non-bracketed text)—one of the concerns some members have raised about this provision is that listing all patents covered could be too burdensome.

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One of the reasons for slow progress was some delegations' call for time to consult with their capitals, Gberie said. He could not be optimistic that a deal can be struck in time.

The basis for the talks is that there will be no deal unless the whole text is agreed.

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Some members are also calling for the deal on intellectual property to be paired with agreement on tackling the trade aspects of the pandemic.

@NOIweala said the other track is progressing reasonably well and cautioned against holding one track hostage to the other.

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Quad members' remarks:

EU—Do members want an outcome or not? If they do, this compromise offers the best chance

US—Actively consulting Congress and domestic stakeholders. Appreciate @NOIweala for circulating the text and looking forward to engaging with members

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SAfrica—Members should engage constructively. The text is imperfect, differs from the original draft (see comparison➡️ tradebetablog.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/compar…). Need to find ways to address concerns

India—An uphill task. The talks were helpful. Aiming for a meaningful, consensus outcome

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African Group—Will be flexible. Duration should be at least 5 years. Should include therapeutics and diagnostics.

China (need result at the ministerial meeting), Latin Americans, Hong Kong—process must be transparent, inclusive and non-discriminatory.

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Switzerland—questions asked in the talks should be compiled by the Secretariat should be answered to clarify points the Quad negotiated over 5 months.

UK—questions about policy intent and the legal basis, and how the text would achieve them. Need time to consult capital.

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The UK also said an outcome on intellectual property should accompany one on trade (see⬇️).

Next: another stock-taking meeting tentatively on May 24, but the timetable is complicated by the World Economic Forum and OECD trade ministers meeting.

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PS. This has been updated

tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2022/03/17/qua…