Tripped up: All you need to know about the Covid-19 TRIPS waiver and what it may achieve for SA (and what it won’t)
Franziska Sucker
Franziska Sucker
is associate professor at the School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand
On 5 May 2021, following enormous pressure, ambassador Katherine Tai announced the US government’s support for waiving intellectual property (IP) protection for Covid-19 vaccines. The following morning, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, declared the EU ready to discuss the “US proposal” even while some European governments, especially Germany, vehemently opposed the idea.
This happened in response to the October 2020 joint waiver request made by South Africa and India. They proposed a waiver allowing World Trade Organization (WTO) members to suspend their obligations to apply several (