Background

The World Trade Organization published recently a report finding that WTO members have used trade and other measures to expedite access to critical medical goods and services as part of their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Key findings of the report include the following.

- The shortages of medical personal protective equipment encountered around the world in the early phase of the pandemic have eased as production and trade have expanded to meet the unparalleled demand spike. However, certain products remain subject to periodic shortages, with sourcing a particular challenge for some developing countries.

- Political commitments have been made to keep markets open and, toward that end, members are sharing information about their COVID-19 trade measures as notifications and for inclusion in WTO trade monitoring reports.

- Duties, taxes, and charges on critical medical goods and other essential supplies have been temporarily removed or deferred by 40 WTO members, and such measures made up around two-thirds of the import trade-facilitating measures reported to the WTO.

- Customs procedures and border clearance for critical medical goods have been expedited by establishing priority clearance channels, lessening and simplifying documentary requirements and electronic processing, and improving border agency cooperation.

- Steps have been taken to enhance regulatory approval and cooperation on standards for traded goods, including measures to expedite regulatory assessments, recognizing the results of foreign regulators, and allowing remote or electronic conformity assessment procedures.

- Measures related to intellectual property rights are being used to facilitate innovation in and access to COVID‑19-related technologies. These include sharing IP to develop treatments and allow the wider use of existing technologies, providing free access to relevant patent databases and COVID-19-specific search facilities, making available reports on COVID‑19-related patents, and facilitating the exchange of clinical trial data.

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