The EU’s decision to introduce export controls on coronavirus vaccines is “highly problematic,” said experts, who warned it could lead to a global supply collapse if other countries followed suit.
“There is a real risk that the EU making this decision will cause a cascade in other countries that are introducing (vaccine) export bans,” Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Center Graduate Institute in Geneva, told CNBC Monday. .
“There is a real risk that we will see a disruption in the movement of vaccines across borders, the same kind of disruption we saw a year ago when countries, including the EU, blocked food and even masks and other essential medical supplies from being exported. This is disastrous on an international level. “
In the worst case scenario, she said, “the greatest risk is that this will set an example that many other countries will follow, leading to a collapse in the global vaccine supply.”
Export controls
People are lining up to receive the China-made Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine, outside the Belgrade exchange turned into a vaccination center on January 25, 2021.
ANDREJ ISAKOVIC | AFP | Getty Images
Despite the fact that the measure was not an “export ban”, it still allows Member States to restrict exports of coronavirus vaccines produced in the block if they believe that the vaccine manufacturer has failed to honor existing contracts with the EU.
It includes exemptions for a variety of countries outside the EU but within Europe, such as Albania and Serbia, a range of countries in North Africa and one of the 92 low and middle income countries covered by the COVAX initiative.
Moon said that: “ The EU has certainly installed a few pressure valves to allow exports to certain countries in the world, but there are still many countries that rely heavily on EU production and they will be hit quite hard. . “
The bloc made the announcement amid heightened concerns and ugly public disputes with vaccine makers over a lack of supplies at the bloc.
Vaccine maker Pfizer said it temporarily cut production of its shot developed with German biotech BioNTech as it upgrades production facilities in Belgium, while AstraZeneca also dealt a blow to the EU by announcing it would deliver far fewer doses of vaccine than initially expected in the first quarter, indicating problems in the Dutch and Belgian factories.
The delays have increased pressure on the European Commission, which has already been criticized for its lack of speed in ordering and approving vaccines and the introduction of immunizations.
The move to implement export controls caused a furor in the UK in particular, after a week of mounting tensions over the supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is also produced at two sites in Great Britain.
The EU had indicated that supplies from the UK factories should be diverted to Europe, leading to a dispute with the drug manufacturer and the UK government. It escalated to the point where the EU said it would ignore part of the Brexit deal to prevent EU-made vaccines from potentially entering the UK via Northern Ireland.
It rescinded that decision shortly afterwards after a public outcry, including from the World Health Organization, which warned of the dangers of “vaccine nationalism”. The EU assured the UK that it would receive vaccine deliveries from the bloc.
Pandora’s box
Simon J. Evenett, professor of international trade and economic development at the University of St. Gallen, noted on Monday that the EU’s action amounted to opening the “Pandora’s box” and that this could have unforeseen consequences.
He said the restrictions could give rise to concern among foreign governments for a number of reasons, including that the “standard for allowing exports of the Covid-19 vaccine is unclear” and that these decisions are “arbitrary. can be”. He also indicated that, as promised, it should not expire on March 31, 2021.
Evenett warned that the move could, “spread along the Covid-19 vaccine supply chain, to include vital ingredients needed to manufacture and distribute the vaccines,” and even lead to export restrictions on other essential goods such as others. medicines.
CSL staff will be working in the laboratory in Melbourne, Australia on November 8, 2020, where they will begin production of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine.
Darrian Traynor | Getty Images
Such scenarios “would exacerbate damage to both the EU’s public health systems and its multinationals,” he said.
“Disruption to vaccine supply chains will slow vaccination rates in the EU and elsewhere, leading to unnecessary deaths and an even slower economic recovery. If the European Commission realizes that it is about to open Pandora’s Box, it could have an elegant find way to repeal his export control regime on the Covid-19 regime, ”he said.
“This would enable the EU to regain its reputation as a defender of multilateralism and the rules-based global trading system. That reputation is in tatters this morning.”