<p>The four main parties to negotiations on an intellectual property waiver for Covid-19 vaccines have prepared an "outcome document" for approval by the broader membership, the WTO said on Tuesday, with its chief hoping for a final deal by June.</p>.<p>WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who has made vaccine equity her top priority since taking office in 2021, has been working for months to broker a compromise between the United States, the European Union, India and South Africa to break an 18-month-long impasse.</p>.<p>"What the discussions were aiming at was coming up with something workable," Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters, saying she hoped the WTO's 164 members would finalise and approve the proposal by a major conference in June. "This will advance the discussion and dialogue. For the next pandemic or a flare up of this one, this is hugely important," she said.</p>.<p>The document showed that there were still unresolved areas in the draft deal, including on the duration of the waiver's application which could be either three or five years.</p>.<p>Okonjo-Iweala said recent negotiations had focused on getting broader support for the deal, including from China. She said Beijing had indicated it was "favourably disposed" to being considered as a developed country in this deal and thus subject to stricter rules. The Chinese mission to the WTO in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>The four main parties to negotiations on an intellectual property waiver for Covid-19 vaccines have prepared an "outcome document" for approval by the broader membership, the WTO said on Tuesday, with its chief hoping for a final deal by June.</p>.<p>WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who has made vaccine equity her top priority since taking office in 2021, has been working for months to broker a compromise between the United States, the European Union, India and South Africa to break an 18-month-long impasse.</p>.<p>"What the discussions were aiming at was coming up with something workable," Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters, saying she hoped the WTO's 164 members would finalise and approve the proposal by a major conference in June. "This will advance the discussion and dialogue. For the next pandemic or a flare up of this one, this is hugely important," she said.</p>.<p>The document showed that there were still unresolved areas in the draft deal, including on the duration of the waiver's application which could be either three or five years.</p>.<p>Okonjo-Iweala said recent negotiations had focused on getting broader support for the deal, including from China. She said Beijing had indicated it was "favourably disposed" to being considered as a developed country in this deal and thus subject to stricter rules. The Chinese mission to the WTO in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>