Canadian Chamber statement on TRIPS waiver: support to strengthen vaccine supply chains is essential

(OTTAWA) – May 6, 2021 – The Canadian Chamber of Commerce issued the following statement regarding the United States’ intention to negotiate a COVID-19 waiver for the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS):

“Support for innovation, including intellectual property protections, has enabled a record-breaking pace of vaccine development that will save millions of lives and help to bring the pandemic to an end. The speed and success of this effort is unprecedented in human history.

The Canadian Chamber strongly supports the goal of increasing vaccine deployment, but rapidly increasing the global availability and use of vaccines requires an extremely complex supply chain of research, production, storage, and distribution. The global community will need continued innovation to find solutions for all populations and to overcome new variants that continue to emerge.

The TRIPS framework already provides a mechanism for licensing arrangements. Pursuing a TRIPS waiver would have a chilling effect on future research and collaboration that are vital for Canadians, as well as creating challenges for Canada’s ability to attract and grow domestic bio-manufacturing capacity.

We call upon the government to engage in the WTO Director-General’s Third Way discussions and continue to lead the Ottawa Group Trade and Health Initiative to find workable solutions and collaborative mechanisms to support the entire COVID-19 vaccine supply chain from innovation through to last-mile distribution.”

About the Canadian Chamber of Commerce – Because Business Matters

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce helps build the businesses that support our families, our communities and our country. We do this by influencing government policy, by providing essential business services and by connecting businesses to information they can use, to opportunities for growth and to a network of local chambers, businesses, decision-makers and peers from across the country, in every sector of the economy and at all levels of government, as well as internationally. We are unapologetic in our support for business and the vital role it plays in building and sustaining our great nation.

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For more information, please contact:
Phil Taylor
ptaylor@chamber.ca (preferred and fastest response time)