UN political declaration on pandemic response failed due to opposition from the US and EU

(New York = Yonhap News) Correspondent Soo-jeong Lim = The United States and the European Union (EU) rejected the UN declaration on strengthening international cooperation in preparation for future pandemic outbreaks, failing to adopt an agreement among member states.

According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 26th (local time), the United Nations held a high-level meeting on the topic of pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response at the United Nations headquarters in New York the day before and promoted the adoption of a political declaration, but failed to reach an agreement among member states.

Although this declaration is not legally binding, it is a document that expresses the international community's political will to jointly respond in the event of a future pandemic.

The declaration included strengthening pandemic preparedness capabilities and cooperation between countries, and expanding access to vaccines and treatments.

However, the United States took issue with some of the expressions and policy directions contained in the declaration.

Erica Schwarz, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who attended as a U.S. representative, said the declaration contained "divisive ideologies without agreement on justice," and that "the United States cannot support this text in its entirety."

The United States also requested the deletion of expressions such as 'equity' and 'solidarity' during the negotiation process.

Since the inauguration of the second Trump administration, the United States has continued to distance itself from public health-related agreements promoted by international organizations such as the United Nations, and its rejection of this declaration is interpreted as an extension of this trend.

The EU stated that language regarding technology transfer to expand production of vaccines and treatments in the event of a future pandemic may infringe on intellectual property protection.

“Technology transfers must take place voluntarily and under mutually agreed terms,” the EU said.

As some key countries, including the United States and the EU, rejected the declaration, it is assessed that the differences in positions between rich and low-income countries that were revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic have again been highlighted.

During COVID-19, vaccine supply in low-income countries lagged by more than a year compared to high-income countries.

Khalilur Rahman, Bangladesh's foreign minister and president of the United Nations General Assembly, said the declaration would be reviewed again at a future session of the United Nations General Assembly.