The landmark announcement by the US government in support of the temporary patent breach against Covid-19 was accompanied by the government of Spain, which by endorsing Washington’s proposal distanced itself from the position of the largest economy in the European Union.
In an interview with Leaf On Friday (7), Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez affirmed that the suspension of intellectual property rights is not the only solution to the problem of the scarcity of vaccines in the world.
One of the pillars [da posição espanhola] It is to make intellectual property as flexible as possible, with voluntary licenses and patent suspension on a temporary basis, to ensure that production [de vacinas] Be expanded. “
“We need to be able to produce more. But that doesn’t just depend on pending patents, the solution can’t just be patent pending.” [A solução] It should also be to facilitate trade in components and inputs. “At the present time, there are difficulties in producing vaccines in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, because the necessary inputs cannot be imported from the United States.”
The Head of the Spanish Diplomacy is on an official visit to Brasilia, where she met President Jair Bolsonaro and Chancellor Carlos Franca.
Spanish support for the moratorium proposed by the Joe Biden government was announced on Thursday (6) and was formally introduced by President Pedro Sanchez on Friday.
However, the Spanish demonstration differs from the one adopted by France and Germany, which underlines the argument that suspending intellectual property rights would not guarantee a greater supply of bunkers and would jeopardize the innovative capacity of companies.
Brazil is also against breaching the patents of the Covid vaccine, but has supported an intermediate proposal in the World Trade Organization (WHO).
The so-called “third method” proposes joint initiatives by the international community to break down trade barriers to Covid immunity and input, without addressing patent revocation.
Gonzalez also demanded that the United States and the United Kingdom allow the export of vaccines to other countries, in an attempt to increase the distribution of vaccines worldwide. “We in the European Union export 200 million vaccines while the United States exports zero. So it shows that there is room to do more. Space is sharing vaccines, not just intellectual property in the future. We need to share vaccines today.”
One of the main goals of the official visit of the Spanish minister is to try to strengthen the trade agreement signed between the European Union and Mercosur, which was agreed upon nearly two years ago but is currently blocked due to resistance from France and other countries to the Bolsonaro government’s environmental policy. .
She stated that under the current circumstances, the agreement will not be approved by the European Parliament. So, she says, it is imperative to expand the treaty’s environmental obligations.
Negotiating a new environmental chapter in the agreement to try to overcome this resistance is part of the minister’s agenda in Brazil.
“In this current situation, I doubt that this agreement can be approved by the European Parliament. That is why Mercosur and the European Union are working to strengthen the pillar of sustainability and, in particular, to strengthen commitments in combating deforestation. And it is not just for a part of a country like Brazil,” he said. But also a joint commitment of the European Union and Mercosur to fight deforestation. “
“The economy of the future will be competitive, based on sustainability. It is in Brazil’s interest to assume a very clear, serious and general commitment to sustainability, because this will benefit Brazil.”
Arancha González Laya, 51
Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Spanish Cooperation. A law graduate, she was the Executive Director of the International Trade Center, the United Nations Development Agency and the World Trade Organization. He has also worked for the European Commission on trade agreement negotiations
