Resolution 997 – Calling for a Temporary Waiver of TRIPS Restrictions on COVID-19 Vaccines, Tests and Treatments
WHEREAS many people in the US and abroad need a higher pace of production for COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments; and,
WHEREAS lower GDP countries cannot afford to pay monopoly rates for COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments; and,
WHEREAS 100 countries have called for a temporary waiver at the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) of “Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights” (“TRIPS”) on technology needed to produce more COVID-19 vaccines, tests and medications; and,
WHEREAS under the prior presidential administration the US blocked the TRIPS waiver insisting that pharmaceutical industry profits come before ending the COVID crisis; and,
WHEREAS the internationally respected humanitarian medical non-governmental organization Médecins Sans Frontières (“MSF” aka Doctors Without Borders), has published a position paper calling for a TRIPS waiver that covers all essential medical technologies beyond vaccines, including tests and treatments, removes intellectual property barriers beyond patents such as data exclusivity, trade secrets or any other protection of undisclosed information, and is of sufficient duration for global production and supply to overcome the challenges of access to COVID-19 medical tools; and,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we, the members of the Washington State Democrats Central Committee, call on the Biden administration to support expansion of the current TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 so that it fully addresses all of the concerns raised in the MSF position paper; and,
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to each WA State member of Congress and the U.S. Senate, President Joseph Biden, and the U.S. Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization.