US, EU, India and South Africa make progress on Covid vaccine IPR waiver

The roadblock: Backing of 164 members of the WTO required--rejection by just one country could still block an accord

The United States, European Union, South Africa and India have agreed on key elements of the WTO’s Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement that is aimed at making more counties get access to Covid-19 vaccine.

However, this will now need the backing of the 164 members of the WTO, which takes decisions based on consensus, so rejection by just one country could still block an accord.

The development comes after a deadlock of more than one year since India and South Africa  submitted a joint proposal for temporarily waiving some sections of the TRIPS agreement that will be applicable to