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Canada agreed Thursday to join World Trade Organization talks on waiving the rules that protect vaccine trade secrets — a measure drug companies and a number of world leaders say would only slow down production.
International Trade Minister Mary Ng broke the news during question period in the House of Commons, putting Canada more squarely onside with the United States, which made a similar commitment Wednesday.
But it followed a confusing 24-hour window that left unclear whether Canada, despite full-throated expressions of support for the U.S. decision, would be willing to sit down at the negotiating table.
In theory, a waiver to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS, would make it easier for developing countries to import the expertise, equipment and ingredients necessary to make their own COVID-19 vaccines.
Critics, however, call the idea wrong-headed, citing the glacial pace of WTO talks, the need for a broad consensus, the complexities of vaccine manufacturing and the pharmaceutical business model that helped develop the vaccines in the first place.
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