APEC trade ministers back TRIPS waiver, commit to speeding vaccine flow

During weekend meetings, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade ministers agreed to support a temporary waiver of certain intellectual property protections on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments and committed to speeding up the flow of vaccines, according to a joint statement issued on Saturday. During virtual meetings on Friday and Saturday, which were hosted by New Zealand, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and 20 other APEC trade ministers pledged to use trade as a tool to respond to the pandemic and to remove...