New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) Several members of the WTO, including the African Group and the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group, have supported a proposal submitted by India and South Africa for relaxing certain provisions in a multi-lateral agreement on intellectual property (IP) with a view to containing the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a statement of the World Trade Organization (WTO), at a formal meeting of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on February 23, WTO members continued their discussions on a proposal for a temporary waiver of certain TRIPS obligations in response to COVID-19.  

While members were unable to reach a decision on the proposal, the discussions highlighted a number of shared understandings on the role of IP amid a pandemic, it said.

Members continued to address the proposal by India and South Africa requesting a waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19, which had been circulated on October 2, 2020.

"It has since been co-sponsored by Kenya, Eswatini, Mozambique, Pakistan, Bolivia, Venezuela, Mongolia, Zimbabwe, Egypt, the African Group and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Group," the statement said.

LDC Group has 35 members, including Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh and Cambodia, while African Group has 43 members including Cameroon, Chad, Congo and Djibouti.

It added that given the lack of consensus on the waiver request, members agreed to adopt an oral status report to be presented to the General Council at its next meeting on March 1-2.

"The report indicates that the TRIPS Council has not yet completed its consideration of the waiver request and therefore will continue discussions and report back to the General Council," it added.

The proposal will be on the agenda of the next formal TRIPS Council meeting scheduled for March 10-11, 2021.

India and South Africa's proposal suggested a waiver for all WTO members on the implementation, application and enforcement of certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement in relation to the prevention, containment or treatment of COVID-19.

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights or TRIPS Agreement came into effect in January 1995. It is a multilateral agreement on intellectual property rights such as copyright, industrial designs, patents and protection of undisclosed information or trade secrets.

The waiver, proposed by the two countries, would cover obligations in four sections of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement -- Section 1 ( copyright and related rights), Section 4 (industrial designs), Section 5 (patents) and Section 7 (protection of undisclosed information).

Rich nations are opposing the proposal.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)