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[Event Report] The 53rd Special Breakfast Meeting “Shaping Global Health Rules from the Perspective of Japan’s chief negotiator: A Look into ‘pandemic accord’” (January 31, 2024) -Then, in May 2021, the 74th World Health Assembly (WHA) decided to establish a Member States Working Group on Strengthening WHO Preparedness and Response to Health Emergencies (WGPR) to discuss drafting and negotiating “pandemic agreement”. It also requested to convene a WHO Special Session at the end of November of the same year, where the following points were decided.1. the first meeting of the INB shall be held no later than 1 March 20222. the INB shall identify the substantive elements of the instrument and then determine its format (a treaty, an agreement, a regulation, etc.)3. The INB shall work with the Member States Working Group on Strengthening WHO Preparedness and Response to Health Emergencies to avoid overlapping and incoherency between both processes.4. the INB shall submit its outcome for consideration by the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly, with a progress report to the Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly5. member states continue discussions on strengthening the IHR (2005), including the targeted amendmentsThe first meeting of the INB in 2022 covered the working methods and format of the negotiations. Substantive discussions on the content of the new instrument began around the third meeting. As of January 2024, the INB was holding its seventh meeting (which was resumed), with the eighth and ninth meetings scheduled for February and March 2024. The deadline for submitting the outcome of the negotiation is May 2024.(Editor’s note: on 1st June, 2024, at the 77th World Health Assembly the amendments to IHR (2005) was adopted by consensus and the extension of the negotiation on “pandemic agreement” was decided. )With approximately four months to go until May 2024, the deadline for submitting the outcome of the negotiation,some countries are beginning to think that they want to produce a good instrument and require more time to manage. While various opinions are being expressed, it will be essential for us to proceed the discussions forward on what to create, when to create it by, and what elements should be included for a success. Japan is committed to making constructive contributions to further process. In addition, the word “Sovereignty” is included in the principles of the current negotiating text, in Chapter 1 (Introduction), Article 3. Full respect for the sovereign rights of each country is essential for advancing discussions on the agreement, and no government has raised objections to this.While the road ahead of us is still difficult to see, I overviewed the current situation and how Japan’s negotiation team is seriously engaged in the discussions to uphold Japan’s national interests and ensure PPR for future pandemics.