On Monday, 14 September 2026, KEI delivered the following intervention at the opening of IGWG 8.
- KEI objects to the extensive secrecy of these negotiations, which have not led to consensus, undermine the trust and the reputation of the WHO, and are in contrast to how many other international treaty negotiations are conducted.
- The equal footing of rapid access to information, on the one hand, and measures to address equity, on the other, are best advanced by facilitating upstream access to data, and by treaty members agreeing to use downstream measures, specifically, conditioning the registration and sale of products, within a specific field of use, to a requirement that manufacturers provide evidence of a binding contract with the WHO on the equity measures, regardless of whether that manufacturer utilized materials or digital sequence information (DSI) from the PABS System.
- We do not think a quid pro quo on access to data is appropriate in an emergency, and we do not think it is a dependable mechanism to obtain equity measures. Equity is important, and was central to the rationale for the treaty. In other multilateral negotiations, the focus is now on downstream measures to address equity, and this has been missing from this negotiation. A downstream approach can effectively (1) reduce the free rider risk to near zero and (2) future proof benefit sharing no matter how fast developing information or product development technologies evolve.