Thank you, Chair for giving me the floor and thank you for convening this formal session of the TRIPS Council.
The United Kingdom welcomes the text of the oral status report and is content for it to be delivered at the upcoming General Council. We believe this report is factual, objective, and accurately reflects developments made by this Council since the General Council was last updated in May, and we thank other delegations for their engagement.
The United Kingdom would like to extend our gratitude to you and the Secretariat for successfully organising several informal TRIPS Council sessions and small group consultations, to help Members advance discussions on substantive topics in a transparent manner. Our delegation has engaged in good faith throughout this process, asking questions conducive to healthy discussion, and has found the exchange of views from Members useful.
However, as reflected in the status report, this Council has been finding it difficult to move towards consensus. We once again reiterate our long-held view that a discussion on fundamental areas of disagreement would help guide discussions towards pragmatic solutions. It is only by developing a common understanding of these underlying principles, that we will be able to meaningfully move forward in this process.
We will continue to actively engage in all discussions and review the merits of any proposal submitted to the TRIPS Council. Responding to the question of vaccine equity necessitates a multifaceted response underpinned by pragmatic action, including voluntary licensing and technology transfer agreements for vaccines, support for COVAX, and solutions for production bottlenecks and supply chain issues. We will continue support action in this regard, and we look forward to our future discussions.
Thank you, Chair.
