Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she has had with (a) The Secretary for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, (b) Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, (c) The Secretary for Health and Social Care and (d) her G7 counterparts on the potential merits of including covid-19 treatment and diagnostics in the TRIPS Agreement.

Consultations with other government departments are ongoing on whether the MC12 TRIPS Decision be extended to include COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics. UK Government officials will continue to engage with relevant stakeholders, as well as with other World Trade Organization Members at the TRIPS Council. The UK looks forward to making progress in this area and remains committed to engaging constructively.