India and South Africa in a letter to the World Trade Organization (WTO), asked to waive off intellectual property rules in order to make it easier for developing countries to produce or import COVID-19 drugs, reported Reuters. 

In the letter posted on the Geneva-based WTO’s website, both the countries asked WTO to waive parts of the ‘Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights’ (TRIPS), which governs trademarks, copyright, patents and other intellectual property rules globally. 

The letter dated October 2 read, “As new diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for COVID-19 are developed, there are significant concerns (over) how these will be made available promptly, in sufficient quantities and at (an) affordable price to meet global demand.”

According to the two countries, the pandemic has immensely affected developing nations and that intellectual property rights, including patents, could be a barrier to the provision of affordable medicine.

The letter added that the WTO’s Council for TRIPS recommend a waiver to the General Council, the WTO’s top decision-making body in Geneva, “as early as possible”. However, how much support India and South Africa have from other countries is not mentioned in the letter.