More than 130 civil society groups largely from developing countries are calling for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to cancel a ministerial conference next week and instead concentrate on approving an intellectual property waiver for Covid-19 vaccines.

The groups, organised under a loose coalition called "Our World is Not For Sale," said in a letter to WTO members that "vaccine apartheid" caused by WTO intellectual property rules must be resolved first. The meeting would otherwise "lack any pretence of legitimacy", especially when some ministers may not be able to travel to Geneva, it said.

The group's coordinator, Deborah James, acknowledged that a postponement was unlikely, but said that some developing countries are demanding that a waiver take precedence over other WTO priorities, including fisheries and agriculture negotiations.

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