News Snapshot:
JOHANNESBURG, June 18 (Xinhua) -- South African Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel on Saturday welcomed the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s agreement to waive COVID-19 vaccine patents, 20 months after the African nation proposed a broad waiver to combat the pandemic. The WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference closed Friday at dawn at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, with members agreeing on key issues such as pandemic response and TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver related to COVID-19. The recent agreement allows governments to authorize local manufacturers to produce vaccines or their ingredients, substances or elements and...
