A number of constituents have contacted me about a potential new international treaty for pandemic preparedness.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a significant challenge that has required global solutions borne out of global cooperation. I appreciate your concerns about this, and I understand that such a treaty would aim to foster greatly enhanced cooperation in order to better protect the UK from the health, social and economic impacts of pandemics. The UK Government supports a new pandemic instrument to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response to protect lives, the economy, and future generations from future pandemics.

The process for developing this new pandemic instrument will be led by WHO member states, including the UK. The current target date for agreeing the text of the new instrument is at the World Health Assembly in May 2024. Once adopted, the instrument would only become binding on the UK if and when the UK agrees to be bound by the treaty in accordance with its constitutional process.

A pandemic treaty is an instrument which would ensure the world is better prepared for future pandemics by learning from our experiences of Covid-19 and ensuring plans to address future health threats are in place. It is a written international agreement between two or more countries, or with international organisations and governed by international law.

Discussions are ongoing at the World Health Organisation to this end. The UK Government wants to reach agreement on its priority areas such as improving transparency, timely data sharing and supporting equitable access to vaccines and treatments. The UK would not sign up to any treaty that compromises its sovereignty. The Government always carefully considers whether domestic legislation will be required to implement the UK’s international obligations when negotiating a treaty. The UK cannot ratify the treaty until the domestic measures were in place to enable it to comply.

The UK Government supports a pandemic instrument to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response to protect lives, the economy, and future generations from future pandemics. The instrument will be developed by WHO member states, and the UK will not sign up to any treaty that compromises its sovereignty.

Further, the WHO provides guidance and recommendations based on scientific evidence and expert advice, but it does not have the authority to enforce policies in any member country without that country's consent. No international treaty can by itself change UK law. If changes to the law are necessary, then a treaty could not be ratified until domestic legislation, agreed by Parliament, was put in place.

Thank you again for all of those who contacted me.