Several EP political groups have called on the European Commission (EC) to abolish intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines to help vaccines reach countries around the world. They reiterated the call after the administration of US President Joe Biden announced support for such a move.
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Urzula von der Leiena, President of the European Commission (EC), recently stated that the European Union (EU) is “open to discussion” on the temporary abolition of intellectual property rights, but that its main focus on expanding access to vaccines worldwide is to address production capacity issues. invest in global manufacturing and invest in the Covax scheme.
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The EP resolution on this issue is scheduled to be adopted at the session on 7-10 June.
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The decision to revoke intellectual property rights must be taken by the Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) TRIPS Agreement. In October last year, India and South Africa proposed at WTO level the suspension of intellectual property rights for all patents related to the prevention, limitation and treatment of Covid-19. In March this year, a group of MEPs and national parliamentarians called on the EC to stop resisting the proposal.
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