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Agenda item 12 - Proposal for a waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS agreement for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Further to the TRIPS Council’s status report delivered at last week’s meeting of the General Council, Canada is pleased to see that Members were able to agree on a way ahead for this important discussion. Canada remains fully committed to identifying consensus-based solutions to any specific IP challenges experienced by Members, related to or arising from the TRIPS Agreement, in their responses to COVID-19, and is pleased to continue to take part in this discussion, as part of the broad multilateral effort toward addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the world continues to contend with the profound public health, economic, and social challenges caused by COVID-19, it remains important that the international community work constructively to find solutions to these challenges, particularly at a time when advancing our shared understanding of the novel coronavirus, its treatments, and its emerging variants, will be so crucial to addressing the pandemic.

Madam Chair, Canada would like to reiterate that it has not rejected the proposed waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement. Canada acknowledges that the global procurement and distribution of COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines, devices and equipment has been, and remains, challenging for almost all members of the international community, including in view of limited production capacity and other logistical challenges. Indeed, it is for these reasons that Canada remains interested in understanding the specific nature and scope of any concrete IP-related challenges experienced by Members, related to or arising from the TRIPS Agreement, in their responses to COVID-19, so that concrete, consensus-based solutions can be found.

Canada again wishes to thank waiver proponents for their written responses to our questions in document IP/C/W/671, as circulated in January under documents IP/C/W/672 and IP/C/W/673. We also continue to take note of, with great interest, the recent indications from some Members of unused or underutilized COVID-19 vaccine production capacity. As we have encouraged in recent TRIPS Council meetings, Canada would invite Members to identify any unused or underutilized facilities that can produce COVID-19 vaccines, and particularly those that are available and actively seeking in-licencing opportunities, so that discussions with vaccine developers can be advanced. Canada also remains interested in any indication by Members with unused or underutilized production capacity of whether and/or why licencing efforts have so far proven unsuccessful, including the identification, in these instances, of any IP-related challenges arising from or related to the TRIPS Agreement, and that Members could not address through existing TRIPS flexibilities.

Identifying any trade-related impediments to the utilization of production capacity and the scaling up of vaccine production, as well as to the production and distribution of other COVID-19-related medical products, will remain essential to finding consensus-based and concrete solutions to any challenges experienced by Members. Canada therefore encourages Members to share their respective experiences in operationalizing production capacity for vaccines and/or other medical products, including any IP-related or other challenges experienced in this area, with a view to assessing the extent to which any challenges may be attributable to the TRIPS Agreement.

Indeed, during the most recent TRIPS Council meeting on February 23, Canada shared its own recent experiences in this area, whereby Canada approached seven vaccine developers regarding the possibility of production in Canada. While these discussions received an assessment from vaccine developers that capacity was too limited to justify the investment of capital and expertise needed to start domestic production, Canada has now, with further investment in production capacity, been able to reach a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. company Novavax to pursue production of its COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to begin later this year. As noted during the February 23 meeting, it is thus Canada’s considered view that IP rights have not emerged among the challenges to building our capacity to produce COVID-19 vaccines in Canada. Madam Chair, in a similar spirit, Canada continues to welcome the sharing of other Members’ experiences in their discussions with vaccine developers and licensors.

With respect to the proposed TRIPS waiver more broadly, and particularly with regard to vaccine production, Canada remains interested in understanding how a waiver would incentivize the requisite collaborative relationships between technology licensees and licensors, such that all relevant technology and related know-how can be fully engaged. In particular, we continue to note that vaccine production may not only rely on patented technology, as well as undisclosed information, some of which may be submitted to health and safety authorities to meet regulatory requirements, but also on a broad range of technical expertise, know-how and other knowledge that may also require collaboration with vaccine developers to facilitate its transfer. In other cases, where the production and scaling up of a vaccine technology is contingent only upon some form of patent freedom to operate, we remain interested in identifying any instances where holders of patents for COVID-19 vaccines have refused requests for voluntary licences, and whether and how Members have attempted, but were unable, to apply Article 31 of TRIPS to engage existing flexibilities available under this Agreement.

Madam Chair, Canada would like to thank Members for their interventions on this important topic today, and for their responses so far to our questions on concrete IP-related challenges in addressing COVID-19. Canada remains actively committed to a robust, multifaceted, and global effort to address the pandemic, and one that fully leverages the WTO’s capacities and those of the entire multilateral system in supporting the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 diagnostics, equipment, therapeutics and vaccines. As equitable, timely and affordable access to testing, treatments, and effective vaccines remains critical for controlling and ending this pandemic, Canada looks forward to continued engagement with all members of the international community, including in the WTO TRIPS Council, to finding concrete solutions to these global challenges.

Madam Chair, on your questions as to the process going forward, Canada is open to engaging in discussions without prejudice to the format and the outcomes. Canada remains ready to engage in good faith, on the basis of an evidence-based approach as to the concrete nature and extent of any IP determinants behind the broader challenges that we all face, and as to how a waiver would effect the requisite collaborations, and with a view to finding consensus-based paths forward, which has been our objective from the very start.

On this note, contrary to what a Member has quite regrettably intimated, Canada wishes to stress that it has never questioned the challenges that we face - the question we have posed is whether those challenges are attributable to the TRIPS Agreement, which is the question that the waiver proposal itself asks.

Finally, Madam Chair, Canada welcomes and supports the WTO Director General’s comments as to an enhanced, innovative role for the WTO in supporting and accelerating the global COVID-19 response.

Thank you.