The European Union is pushing for a global deal aimed at preventing new pandemics that could include a ban on wildlife markets and incentives for countries to report new viruses or variants, an EU official told Reuters.
International negotiators meet for the first time today (Wednesday 9/2) to prepare talks for a potential treaty, said the official, who is not authorized to speak to media and so declined to be named.
The aim is to reach a preliminary agreement by August.
However, Brussels has so far struggled to get full backing for a new treaty from the United States and other major countries, some of which want any agreement to be non-binding.
A spokesperson for Charles Michel, the president of the European Council who in November 2020 proposed a new treaty on pandemics, said he had no fresh comment on the matter.