India cites global shortage of Covid-19 vaccines as consensus eludes its TRIPS waiver proposal

New Delhi: India on Tuesday told the World Trade Organization (WTO) that the worst fears of shortage and supplies have come true, with the Covid-19 vaccine rollout programmes of almost all countries suffering delays.

It raised its concerns as consensus remained elusive on its joint proposal with South Africa for a temporary waiver in Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) provisions to ensure uninterrupted flow of medicines, vaccines and medical equipment among countries amid the ongoing pandemic.

Highlighting insufficient manufacturing and non-availability of the required number of vaccine doses to fight the Covid-19 pandemic globally, India said that restrictive and non-transparent voluntary licensing agreements will be unable to address the burgeoning demand.


The EU, the US, Switzerland, the UK and Japan have opposed the proposal, arguing that waiving IP rights does not address the problems of capacity or raw materials that are currently impeding sufficient supply. They have insisted that the current TRIPS system contains sufficient tools to address any IP-related problems.

New Delhi termed developed countries’ argument on the sufficiency of such licensing arrangements for ramping up manufacturing capacities “wishful thinking”.

As per a Geneva-based official, India argued that voluntary licenses, even where they exist, are shrouded in secrecy and their terms are not transparent.

“Their scope is limited to specific amounts or for a limited subset of countries, thereby encouraging nationalism,” the official said.

India also said that the fears about the inefficiency of the COVAX mechanism, which is co-led by Gavi, an international vaccine alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the WHO, has proven to be true.

Afghanistan, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Mongolia, Chad, Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Venezuela have supported the India-South Africa waiver proposal.