United States–European Commission Joint Statement: Launch of the joint COVID-19 Manufacturing and Supply Chain Taskforce

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

1. Ending the COVID-19 pandemic through global cooperation remains our first priority. That cooperation includes efforts toward smooth manufacturing and supply chains for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.

2. U.S. and EU supply chains for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics are closely intertwined.

a. Critical raw materials, drug substance and finished doses are shipped back and forth between the EU and U.S. to enable the production and supply of vaccines for the world.

b. Over the past months, the U.S. and EU have worked closely together to resolve supply chain bottlenecks as part of a regular COVID vaccine supply chain dialogue, led by Commissioner Thierry Breton and White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients.

c. The EU and U.S. have both successfully scaled up production of their vaccine portfolios, becoming world leaders in the production of mRNA vaccines.

d. The U.S. and the EU have made major investments in the global production of the COVID-19 vaccine, notably in Africa in coordination with the Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM). The joint support for vaccine production in Senegal through the Fondation Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Team Europe, including the European Investment Bank (EIB) and development finance institutions in EU Member States, is an important first step to grow the region’s long-term capacity to produce vaccines.

3. At the EU–U.S. Summit in June, the U.S. and the EU announced a joint COVID-19 Manufacturing and Supply Chain Taskforce to deepen cooperation and resolve issues around expanding vaccine and therapeutics production capacity.

The objective of this Joint Taskforce is to deepen cooperation and identify and resolve issues around expanding vaccine and therapeutics production capacity, including by building new production facilities, maintaining open and secure supply chains, avoiding any unnecessary export restrictions, and encouraging voluntary sharing of know-how and technology on mutually-determined terms including through the ACT-A.

4. Today, the Taskforce met in Washington, D.C., to finalize the Mission Statement of this Taskforce, which will focus on the following three priority work strands:

a. Monitor global supply chains for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics through assessment of global demand and supply of these items and their production and ancillary supplies, and through identification of supply chain bottlenecks:

• The Joint Taskforce intends to support efforts to analyze global vaccine and therapeutics demand and supply, particularly the joint production capacity for vaccines currently authorized in the U.S. and EU.
• The Joint Taskforce intends to support Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) and COVAX supply chain efforts.

b. Address critical supply chain bottlenecks and other disruptive factors for global COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics production:

• The Joint Taskforce intends to continue to work closely together on critical COVID-19 supply chain issues and bottlenecks, including regular status updates on any potential import–export issues between the U.S. and EU. 
• The Joint Taskforce intends to engage vaccine and therapeutics manufacturers and suppliers to assess supply chain bottlenecks and develop a joint approach to supply chain monitoring for key vaccine inputs, notably disposables and consumables, which are especially constrained globally.

c. Coordinate initiatives to boost global production of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and their production and ancillary supplies:

• The Joint Taskforce intends to promote and align initiatives to support additional global manufacturing capacity for vaccines, therapeutics and ancillary supplies.

For More Information:

Statement: An EU/US Agenda for Beating the Global Pandemic: Vaccinating the World, Saving Lives Now, and Building Back Better Health Security