EU looks to tighten vaccine export controls

(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission introduced new, tougher criteria of 'reciprocity and proportionality' Wednesday under its 'transparency and authorisation mechanism' for COVID-19 vaccine exports.

The Commission admits that the objective of 'ensuring timely access to COVID-19 vaccines for EU citizens' is still not being met. It adds that this system has "significantly improved the transparency of exports".

With EU Member States facing a third wave of the pandemic, Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says that some companies are failing to deliver on their contracts, even as the EU is "the only major OECD producer that continues to export vaccines at large scale to dozens of countries".

The EU executive is introducing the principles of reciprocity and proportionality into the EU's existing authorisation mechanism, she adds, because "open roads should run in both directions".

The new regulation introduces two changes to the existing mechanism. First, in addition to the impact of a planned export to the fulfilment of the EU's Advance Purchase Agreements (APAs) with vaccine manufacturers, the Commission says the EU should also consider:

• Reciprocity – does the destination country restrict its own exports of vaccines or their raw materials, either by law or other means? and
• Proportionality – are the conditions prevailing in the destination country better or worse than the EU's, in particular its epidemiological situation, its vaccination rate and its access to vaccines.

Member States, and the Commission should assess whether the requested exports do not pose a threat to the security of supply of vaccines and their components in the Union, it says.

Second, to gain a full picture of vaccine trade, the new act includes 17 countries previously exempted in the scope of the regulation. (*)

The EU remains committed to international solidarity and will therefore continue to exclude from this scheme vaccine supplies for humanitarian aid or destined to the 92 low and middle income countries under the COVAX Advance Market Commitment list.

The export authorisation scheme: the Commission says this implementing act is "targeted, proportionate, transparent and temporary". It is fully consistent with the EU's international commitment under the World Trade Organization and the G20, and in line with what the EU has proposed in the context of the WTO's trade and health initiative. Member States decide on the requests for authorisation in accordance with the Commission's opinion.

Since the start of this mechanism, 380 export requests to 33 different destinations have been granted for a total of around 43 million doses. Only one export request was not granted. The main export destinations include the United Kingdom (with approximately 10.9 million doses), Canada (6.6 million), Japan (5.4 million), Mexico (4.4 million), Saudi Arabia (1.5 million), Singapore (1.5 million), Chile (1.5 million), Hong Kong (1.3 million), Korea (1.0 million) and Australia (1.0 million).

Commission Implementing Regulation

(*) List of countries included: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Iceland, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, North Macedonia, Serbia and Switzerland.