Support India's TRIPS Waiver Proposal At WTO: US Senators Including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren Urge President Biden

India and South Africa’s proposal for temporary waiver of the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has got backing of prominent US senators including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

As many as ten senators have written to US President Joe Biden asking him to support the proposal mooted by India and South Africa to ensure the effective and efficient response to this "once-in-a-lifetime" global pandemic.

The TRIPS waiver proposed by India and South Africa would temporarily lift certain intellectual property barriers and allow countries to locald manufacture Covid-19 diagnostics, vaccines, and treatments, the senators wrote.

The senators added that the waiver is vital for adequate volume and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines around the world.

“Regardless of our vaccination efforts here in the US, we cannot successfully combat COVID-19 without supporting the efforts of other countries in our collective fight against this virus,” the senators said in their letter.

They added, “Unless countries cooperate and share medical technology, there simply will not be sufficient supply of vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments for many countries - particularly developing countries - to effectively manage COVID-19.”

Apart from Sanders and Warren, the signatories of the letter include Raphael Warnock, Edward Markey, Chris Van Hollen, Jeffrey Merkley, Richard Blumenthal, Tammy Baldwin, Sherrod Brown and Chris Murphy.