The director of the World Trade Organization said on Wednesday that an international agreement on waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines is close to being reached ahead of a global trade gathering next week.
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala also suggested in a phone interview that a deal on fishing subsidies might be achieved in time for the summit, which will bring together 120 trade ministers from across the world at the organization's Geneva headquarters.
In a telephone interview with Reuters, Okonjo-Iweala said, "If we get one or two deliverables, that will be fantastic." "I believe we're within shouting distance."
None of the agreements in the three primary bargaining areas of agricultural, fish subsidies, and intellectual property rights for vaccines have been finalized for ministers to rubber-stamp days before the summit, according to trade sources.
Instead, Okonjo-Iweala described a "frantic" mood in Geneva, where negotiators had been working late into the night and on weekends to attempt to address unresolved issues.
Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian minister and head of the GAVI vaccination alliance board, has prioritized a long-awaited agreement on a waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 doses since her appointment more than a year ago.
"We're dealing with some difficult issues, but there's movement," she said of the negotiations without going into detail. "I believe it is still feasible for us to clear things up," she remarked. According to trade insiders, recent arguments have centered on the breadth of the waiver and China's objections to certain of the agreement's phrasing.
COVID-19 postponed the WTO's biannual conference twice, and it now takes place after a nearly 5-year hiatus, amid the backdrop of elevated geopolitical tensions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Although some Western members have refused to talk directly with Russia, Okonjo-Iweala expressed confidence that conversations could continue through a variety of meeting sizes.
"The tensions and crises between Russia and Ukraine are unavoidable. We identify procedures that work, and we'll apply them at MC12 as well "she remarked, alluding to the meeting the next week.