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Info Service on Intellectual Property Issues (Feb26/04) Geneva, 13 February 2026 (TWN) – A group of 87 civil society organizations has issued a critical letter addressed to the Bureau facilitating negotiations for the Annex of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, warning that the proposed Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) system risks repeating historical inequities and biopiracy. They argue that legal loopholes in the Bureau’s text allow circumvention of mandatory benefit-sharing obligations. Civil society organizations also criticized the negotiation process. During a resumed session held 20–22 January 2026 at WHO headquarters in Geneva, civil society were permitted to intervene only on the final day of deliberations, after Member States had already debated the Bureau’s proposals. The draft text was not formally circulated to stakeholders nor published on the IGWG dashboard during the session. The letter is endorsed by a diverse coalition of international, regional and national civil society organizations from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and Oceania, including global health, patients and labour groups. The full letter is reproduced below: Open
Letter Regarding Concerns Over Bureau's Text on the Pathogen Access
and Benefit Sharing System (PABS) Annex To: Dear Members of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG), World Health Organization (WHO), We, the undersigned civil society organizations, write to express our serious concerns regarding the development of the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) Annex, particularly the text proposals put forward by the Bureau during the resumed session of the IGWG held from 20–22 January 2026. At the outset, we express serious concern regarding process and transparency. The Bureau’s text proposals were neither formally circulated to relevant stakeholders nor published on the IGWG dashboard prior to or during the resumed session. Civil society were allowed to intervene only on the final day, after Members had already begun deliberations. Such practice must not be repeated; inclusive and meaningful participation must be ensured. In the absence of an officially circulated Bureau text, we rely on fragmented versions collected informally to make the following comments. The Bureau’s text fails to reflect key elements supported by 80 developing countries, including enforceable standard contracts for all recipients of PABS materials and sequence information (PMSI), mandatory user registration and data access agreements (DAAs). Instead, the text appears designed to accommodate demands of certain developed-country delegations. The draft introduces differential treatment: commercial users must conclude PABS contracts, while laboratories within the WHO Coordinated Laboratory Network (WCLN), WHO-recognized sequence databases and non-commercial researchers are merely subject to “terms and conditions,” which are neither binding nor enforceable. Such differential treatment lacks rational justification and creates significant legal loopholes. In the absence of enforceable obligations, laboratories and non-commercial recipients could onward-share PMSI with commercial entities that have not signed PABS contracts, undermining fair and equitable benefit sharing. Moreover, the Bureau text does not prohibit onward sharing to non-compliant recipients. Another major loophole is the absence of mandatory user registration and DAAs for access to PABS sequence information databases. Without identification of users and binding contractual commitments, effective operation of the system is impossible. The draft also omits essential governance provisions regarding oversight of laboratories and databases, and sidesteps developing countries’ proposal for a WHO-managed PABS-specific sequence database. Further, the Bureau’s text dilutes Article 12 commitments on monetary benefit sharing. There is no firm commitment to annual contributions, nor clarity on calculation or collection. An approach allowing each commercial user to decide its contribution undermines the credibility of benefit sharing. Articles 12.7 and 12.8 require benefit-sharing provisions during Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEICs) and even prior to declaration to prevent emergencies. Such provisions must be specific and mandatory, not optional. In conclusion, for a fair and accountable PABS system, the following components are essential:
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