WTO chief warns of rocky road to deals amid “polycrisis”
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala expressed cautious optimism on Sunday that more than 100 trade ministers meeting in Geneva would achieve one or two global deals this week, but warned the path there would be bumpy and rocky. The director-general from Nigeria said the world had changed since the WTO’s last ministerial […]
IMF, World Bank, WFP and WTO urge coordinated action on food security
Washington DC, US Reuters The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, UN World Food Program and World Trade Organization on Wednesday called for urgent, coordinated action on food security, and appealed to countries to avoid banning food or fertiliser exports. In a joint statement, the leaders of the four institutions warned that the war in Ukraine […]
As Omicron spreads, calls mount to waive COVID vaccine patents
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation The emergence of the Omicron variant has reignited calls for patent waivers for COVID-19 vaccines to help developing nations get more jabs in arms as they battle to control the pandemic. Supporters say a waiver would save lives in poorer countries and help prevent the emergence of more deadly and resistant […]
Find $US75 billion to head off next pandemic, top panel tells G20
Venice, ItalyReuters COVID-19 is probably only a forerunner of increasingly dangerous pandemics in the future and governments need to find $US75 billion over the next five years to prepare for them, a panel of experts told finance ministers of the Group of 20 rich countries on Friday. In a report to the G20 meeting in […]
WTO to start vaccine supply negotiations amid clash on patents
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters World Trade Organization members agreed on Wednesday to start formal negotiations on a plan to boost COVID-19 vaccine supply to developing countries, but face rival proposals – one with and one without a waiver of intellectual property rights. South Africa and India, backed by many emerging nations, have been pushing for eight months […]
WTO vaccine waiver could take months to negotiate, faces opposition: experts
Washington DC, USReuters World Trade Organization negotiations on a waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines could take months – provided they can overcome significant opposition from some member countries, trade experts say. The talks also are likely to focus on a waiver that is significantly narrower in scope and shorter in duration than […]
Put idle capacity to work now making vaccines, says WTO head
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The world cannot act soon enough to put idle manufacturing capacity to work making COVID-19 vaccines to help redress a massive imbalance in global supply, the head of the World Trade Organization said on Wednesday. WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and treatments was “both the moral and economic […]