The 12 Congressmen said in a letter to US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, if America gives up intellectual property rights, it will hurt innovation and production, and result in fewer people being vaccinated.
Twelve Republican lawmakers have urged the Biden administration not to endorse a resolution by India and South Africa to temporarily waive some trade-related aspects by the World Trade Organization in the midst of the Coronavirus epidemic.
If the US gives up the right to intellectual property, it will hurt innovation and production, and result in fewer people being vaccinated, 12 influential congressmen said in a letter to US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Tuesday. The letter is in response to a proposal in this regard by 60 developing countries led by India and South Africa.
The latter included, “The United States continues to oppose the request of India, South Africa, and other nations to waive parts of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for all members of the World Trade Organization (WTO)” needed”.
Said by congressmen Jim Jordan and Darrell Issa, lawmakers said the requested exemption is extraordinarily broad and unnecessary to allow more people access to the vaccine and treatment for COVID-19. He claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressed US President Joe Biden during a phone call in early May to support the exemption.
Other signatories to the letter are Steve Chabot, Louis Gohart, Matt Getz, Mike Johnson, Tom Tiffany, Thomas Massey, Dan Bishop, Michelle Fischbach, Scott FitzGerald, and Cliff Bentz. The letter stated that the justification for the exemption rests on a misconception that IP rights are an important bottleneck for the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.
“The waiver sponsors have not offered any convincing evidence to support this claim. Instead, the sponsors primarily point to only relevant IP rights and infer that those rights are inaccessible to the COVID-19 vaccine and remedies. Can serve as a barrier to – not IP rights have actually blocked or significantly hindered their availability.
The letter states that if anything, instances of IP ‘disputes’ by sponsors show that parties involved in IP rights have not been prevented from supplying vaccines and other drugs. Republican congressmen said that respect for intellectual property rights has been the cornerstone of American trade policy for decades and should not be taken lightly.
Source: BusniessToday
