The European Union has always opposed a waiver of intellectual property rights and initially the US administration supported them, but now the Joe Biden administration has reversed its position. Instead, the EU pushed to limit export restrictions and issue licenses that would allow specific manufacturers to avoid intellectual property rights without a full waiver. The EU’s compromise deal is only a victory for pharmaceutical companies, which were pushing for intellectual property protection on essential medicines.

In his letter to the Prime Minister, Prathapan stressed that because of India’s manufacturing capabilities in the therapeutic area, it was important for Indian negotiators to broaden the scope of the waiver decision from the Agreement on TRIPS, currently under negotiation, to include therapeutic products.

The MP for Thrissur pointed out that he had noticed a slowdown in India’s response and approach after the change of ‘bureaucratic head in the Ministry of Commerce’. Previously, India proactively approached various countries for support, but after getting support, the country stopped playing a proactive role.

Also earlier, the MP had written to the Prime Minister to draw his attention to the “compromise text resulting from negotiations with the EU and the United States”. In his letter, he pointed out that the compromise reached showed a complete abandonment of the demands put forward by the EU and a total rejection of the demands of India.

“India has fallen into the TRIPS trap. Due to the special circumstances, which worsened following the Covid-19 pandemic, India and South Africa had presented a fair claim before the WTO. But, instead of standing firm on the demands, the Indian government has capitulated to the grossly unfair EU demands,” Prathapan wrote in March. He observed that the compulsory license clause included in the compromise text was even stricter than existing laws.

In April, more than 300 civil society organizations and health experts from around the world wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa rejecting the ‘uneven and inadequate’ TRIPS waiver being circulated. by the European Union. .

The open letter pointed out that the circulating TRIPS waiver would inexplicably and unjustifiably raise more barriers to manufacturing life-saving medical technologies, including adding an impossible requirement to list all patents. related to a vaccine.

national herald sent questions to Trade Minister Piyush Goyal and the bureaucrats in charge of the TRIPS waiver negotiations, but there was no response. This article will be updated if there is a response.