Point 2: Reform and TRIPS

Thank you, Madam President.

Madam President, you said that we really shouldn’t go into the details of the reform because that’s what we’re talking about this afternoon, so I’ll try not to. One thing to choose is the separation of meetings, which I know is so important for so many smaller delegations. That’s one that we’ve put forward in our proposals, and I think that’s something we need to think about all the time to make sure we’re a truly inclusive organization, not just in words, but in action.

Let me tell you briefly about TRIPS. My Swiss colleague made the point more eloquently than I could, and I agree with every word he said.

First of all, I want to acknowledge the continued efforts of our TRIPS Chair and let me applaud her and the Secretariat’s efforts to move our discussions forward. I would also like to confirm that we have received the US ITC report. Like others, I’m sure we’re still analyzing the information in that report, but for us it reaffirms the importance of the issues we know, including on this issue, including the importance of voluntary licenses where the UK has issued a document, in terms of increasing affordability. and access to COVID-19 products and technologies worldwide. I hope everyone has seen our paper on this which looks at how we can build on that future pandemic preparedness.

I just wanted to acknowledge that access issues go well beyond intellectual property and that looking at the broader factors involved in reactors should help us as we look at whether the decision we made in MC12 should indeed be expanded to include therapeutics and diagnostics. Let me also just encourage our fellow members, especially from developing countries and least developed countries, to come to us to present their thoughts on our document, share their national experiences and challenges they have faced in implementing voluntary licensing and technology transfer partnerships. we can try to continue our work in a structured and cooperative manner.

Finally, many colleagues have said this morning that not taking a decision will be a real matter for this organisation. I think there is something worse than not making a decision, making the wrong decision about this organization, about the intellectual property that is the foundation of our innovation economy, and making the wrong decision about our future pandemic preparedness.

Thank you.

Point 3. Work Program for Small Economies – Report by the Chair of the Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Development

Thank you very much, Chairman.

We wanted to get involved quickly to recognize the importance of this issue. We really wanted to congratulate the excellent Small Economy Evidence Sharing session and thank the Chair, the Secretariat and everyone who contributed to the session.

We are also looking forward to the opportunity to review the minister’s draft decision on this issue in the next session.

Thank you very much.