The Plebiscite World
Advertisement
  • Politics
  • World
  • Opinion
  • Business
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
  • World
  • Opinion
  • Business
No Result
View All Result
The Plebiscite World
No Result
View All Result
Home Covid-19

New WTO boss warns against vaccine nationalism

The Plebiscite World by The Plebiscite World
February 17, 2021
in Covid-19, World
0 0
0
0
SHARES
5
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin

By Jonathan JosephsBusiness reporter, BBC New


WTO head warns against vaccine nationalism
WTO head warns against vaccine nationalism

The newly-appointed head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has told the BBC that vaccine protectionism must be overcome to solve the pandemic.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said “a phenomenon where rich countries are vaccinating their populations and poor countries have to wait” must be avoided.

In recent weeks, several countries have tried to prevent the export of vaccines made within their borders.

But Dr Okonjo-Iweala said protectionism would hinder a global recovery.

“The nature of the pandemic and the mutation of many variants makes this such that no one country can feel safe until every country has taken precautions to vaccinate its population,” she said.

Vaccine boss

Until the end of last year Dr Okonjo-Iweala chaired the global vaccine alliance, GAVI, which aims to increase access to vaccines around the world and she now says the WTO has crucial work to do in this area.

There is an ongoing debate about relaxing WTO rules on intellectual property so that more drug manufacturers can make the jabs. Dr Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged that whilst “some developing countries are asking for waivers, developed countries feel that this might impinge on intellectual property”

But she argues for “a third way, in which we can licence manufacturing to countries so that you can have adequate supplies while still making sure that intellectual property issues are taken care of”.

That is already happening with the Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccine, which has been licenced to the Serum Institute of India.

New WTO boss warns against vaccine nationalism

The organisation is in a fight for relevance in the eyes of many countries that consider its rules outdated and believe that the organisation itself has been slow to adapt to changes in the global economy.

After a selection process which was dragged out by a lack of support from the administration of former US President Donald Trump, Dr Okonjo-Iweala is mindful of what her victory represents.

“I’m proud to be the first woman and the first African,” she said.

The reformer

However, she is keen to get to work as a reformer, a reputation she earned when she was second in command at the World Bank, and as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, where she won significant reductions in her country’s international debt obligations.

She said: “There is an issue of broken trust between members and a lot of work [to be done] to update the rules of the WTO to [meet] 21st century realities.”

If the challenges of coronavirus can be tackled, those “small steps, early wins and successes can then help create the trust and allow you to do the bigger reforms”, she said.

Among those challenges is an elusive deal on fishing subsidies.

Image captionThe WTO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland

“From there, we can go on to reform the dispute settlement system, which is moribund at the moment, but which is needed, because that’s the only place in the world where members can bring trade disputes.”

It was brought to a halt by President Trump vetoing the appointment of new judges to the body tasked with solving those disagreements.

“From there, we can go on to update the rules on areas like the digital economy and e-commerce,” she said, adding that she also wanted to change the way women are served by the WTO and how climate change and trade are thought about.

US-China trade war

The US-China trade war is another area where the WTO has struggled to have an impact, given its lack of enforcement mechanisms. And that is despite a ruling last year that US tariffs were “inconsistent” with international trade rules.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala said: “We can be very helpful to both the US and China to help bring them together to solve these problems.”

One reason the WTO has struggled to make progress in many areas is because of the insistence that decisions be made by the consensus of all 164 members.

When asked if decisions should be taken on a majority, rather than consensus basis, Dr Okonjo-Iweala said: “It should not be such that this manner of decision making gets in the way of welfare enhancing innovations or measures for the membership.”

Previous Post

My Thoughts On Okonjo-Iweala’s Appointment As DG, WTO. By Albert Afeso Akanbi

Next Post

Hundreds of school boys kidnapped in Niger state, Governor shuts down all schools in four LGAs

The Plebiscite World

The Plebiscite World

Next Post

Hundreds of school boys kidnapped in Niger state, Governor shuts down all schools in four LGAs

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

Big Pharma In Outrage Over Shaquille O-Neal's Latest Business Venture – He Fires Back.

October 17, 2020

ABOUT AFRICANS By Richard Smith.

June 15, 2020

65 pictures of capital project, achievement led by president Buhari administration by S. Hamis

March 5, 2021

ANAMBRA POLITICIANS EGWUGO ANDY UBAH CHANDUM ( OUTSMARTED) UBA… By Val Iwuchukwu

November 8, 2021

RIGHT OF REPLY: Anti-Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs) campaigners are not terrorists …A response to the Director-General, National Biosafety Management, NBMA.

The Afe Babalola testimonies By Owei Lakemfa

Buhari’s certificate

WHEN THE PIGEONS REFUSE TO FLY

The Afe Babalola testimonies By Owei Lakemfa

January 10, 2023

Pope Benedict: Shaped and dislocated by history By Owei Lakemfa

January 8, 2023

Obi best qualified to lead Nigeria – Afe Babalola

January 6, 2023

How I lost my virginity to an older woman at 17 – Prince Harry

January 6, 2023

Recent News

The Afe Babalola testimonies By Owei Lakemfa

January 10, 2023

Pope Benedict: Shaped and dislocated by history By Owei Lakemfa

January 8, 2023

Obi best qualified to lead Nigeria – Afe Babalola

January 6, 2023

How I lost my virginity to an older woman at 17 – Prince Harry

January 6, 2023

.

No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
  • World
  • Opinion
  • Business

© 2022 - The Plebiscite World.com

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In