* EU Commission to propose tighter mechanism on Weds
* Even firms meeting quarterly supply contracts may be hit
* Export block to also hit states with higher shot rates
* J&J has announced backloaded Q2 deliveries to EU
(Adds details)
By Francesco Guarascio
BRUSSELS, March 23 (Reuters) - The European Commission will
on Wednesday extend EU powers to potentially block COVID-19
vaccine exports to Britain and other areas with much higher
vaccination rates, and to cover instances of companies
backloading contracted supplies, an EU official said.
The move is designed to avoid even limited shortfalls in
deliveries to a region whose inoculation programme has been
beset by delays and supply issues.
The amendment covering instances of companies backloading
contracted quarterly deliveries into the bloc could hit Johnson
& Johnson, which has announced delays in its supplies to
the EU in the second quarter, the official said.
All vaccine makers could be affected if they do not comply
with delivery timetables, the official said.
The EU this month used an existing export control mechanism,
set up at the end of January, to block a shipment of AstraZeneca
vaccine to Australia.
That mechanism can at present be activated only if companies
do not meet contracted quarterly delivery targets. The
AstraZeneca exports were blocked after the company announced
steep cuts in first quarter deliveries to the EU.
With the amendments to be adopted on Wednesday, the EU will
however be able to block exports to cover companies that respect
their quarterly contracts but backload supplies to the end of
the period, said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.
Johnson & Johnson, which has committed to delivering 55
million doses to the EU between April and June, has said its
deliveries were likely to start in the second half of April
.
The company told EU officials it was facing production
issues that might make it difficult to meet its second quarter
target, but that was striving to fulfil it..
Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech also
had delays in their vaccine delivery rollouts to the EU, though
they are set to meet their overall targets for the first
quarter.
"We don't want the same delays to happen in the second
quarter," said the official, who has direct knowledge of the
Commission decision.
Any decision to bloc an export would however need to be
taken in agreement with the EU state from where the shipment
would leave the bloc, and take into account the overall stance
of a company and of the importing state. "We will balance things
out," the official said.
The new rules will also allow to block exports to countries
with a much higher vaccination rate than the EU, like for
instance at the moment Britain or the United Arab Emirates, the
official said, confirming what Commission head Ursula von der
Leyen told a news conference last week.
Shipments could also be withheld if vaccine-producing
countries, such as the United States and Britain, do not allow
export of vaccines to the EU, the official added, also in line
with von der Leyen's earlier announcement.
The U.S. administration told EU officials in March that it
would not allow any time soon the shipment to the EU of
Astrazeneca vaccines produced in the United States, EU officials
told Reuters.
The new rules, which will take effect immediately after
publication in the EU official journal, will also tighten
controls to make sure export blocks are not circumvented using
third countries, the official said.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; editing by
John Stonestreet)