Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing Negotiations
(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Mr James Frith)
I would like to update the House regarding the ongoing negotiations of the Intergovernmental Working Group to secure an annexe to the World Health Organisation’s pandemic agreement on a new pathogen access and benefit sharing system.
This Government’s last update to the House was on 3 June —[Official Report, 3 June 2026; Vol. 786, c. 103WS.], following the decision by the World Health Assembly to extend the deadline for the IGWG to submit the final outcome of the negotiations to the 80th WHA, to be held in May 2027 or, if necessary, earlier at a special session of the WHA in 2026. Since then, the IGWG has held two further rounds of negotiations: a seventh meeting from 6 to 17 July and an eighth meeting from 14 to 18 September.
The seventh and eighth meetings of the IGWG made progress in clarifying some of the key conceptual issues that remain to be resolved in the negotiations. However, differences remain across several complex and highly technical issues. Discussions focused on the modalities of access to PABS materials and sequence information, governance, and the scope of the system. Some progress was also made on defining pathogens with pandemic potential and identifying which pathogens will be subject to sharing through the PABS system.
As set out in our October 2025 update—[Official Report, 22 October 2025; Vol. 773, c. 61WS.], the UK co-chaired the IGWG negotiations alongside Brazil from July 2025. The UK stepped back from this role in July 2026, and a new bureau co-chair is due to be elected in due course.
The next formal round of negotiations will take place from 2 to 13 November. The UK remains fully committed to working with member states to secure a PABS annexe that supports both UK and global public health and is firmly in the UK’s national interest, as well as the global interest.
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