Brics proposes vaccine access, consumer safety

NEW DELHI: The Brics nations -Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – proposed to have a common action plan to ensure consumer protection amid growing usage of e-commerce while emphasising on the need for an early outcome of the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver for Covid-19 vaccines.

At the 11th Brics trade ministers’ meeting on Friday, held under the chairmanship of commerce minister Piyush Goyal, members agreed to work on newer areas such as consumer protection, e-commerce, genetic resources, traditional knowledge and cooperation in professional services, a statement from the commerce ministry said.

The members also agreed for a common approach towards the multilateral trading system, particularly in the forthcoming ministerial conference of World Trade Organisation (WTO), it added.

The 12th ministerial conference (MC12) of WTO will take place from November 30 to December 3 this year in Geneva.

India and South Africa lead the group of countries at WTO in seeking a waiver for certain provisions of the TRIPS agreement to provide universal access of

Covid vaccines to poor countries.

At the meeting , Goyal raised needs of developing and least developed countries (LDCS) and urged Brics to work together for strengthening the multilateral system such as the WTO.

There was a consensus among Brics members for jointly working towards protection of genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions so as to address the issue of its misappropriation through mandatory disclosure of source of origin of the resource, it said. “This will also help moving together in international forums on this issue,” it added.

“In this era of exponential jump in the use of e-commerce and online electronic transactions, the convergence to draw a common action plan amongst BRICS countries will help in to promote exploring practical options for ensuring consumer protection,” the statement said.

In July last year, India proposed the Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules to prevent unfair trade practices in e-commerce that harm the interest of consumers in the long run.

Common understanding among Brics was reached on a range of subjects for the first time such as consumer protection, e-commerce, genetic resources, traditional knowledge and cooperation in professional services, the statement said.