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(Adds Australian health minister comments in paragraphs 13-15)
By Francesco Guarascio, John Chalmers and Giselda Vagnoni
BRUSSELS, March 4 (Reuters) - The European Union is planning
to extend its export authorisation scheme for COVID-19 vaccines
to the end of June, two EU sources told Reuters on Thursday, as
a shipment of AstraZeneca shots from the EU to Australia was
blocked.
Extending controls could reignite tensions with countries
who rely on shots made in the EU.
Under the scheme, companies must get an authorisation before
exporting COVID-19 shots, and may have export requests denied if
they do not respect their supply commitments with the EU.
The mechanism was set up at the end of January as a reaction
to vaccine makers' announcements of delays in the deliveries of
COVID-19 vaccines to the bloc.
It is due to expire at the end of March, but the European
Commission wants to extend it through June, the two officials
said.
"The Commission will propose its extension into June. And
that was greeted by the member states with approval, not
necessarily enthusiasm, but there is a feeling that we still
need that mechanism," one senior EU diplomat said.
The second official added that at a meeting with EU
diplomats on Wednesday, many countries supported the measure,
including heavyweights Germany and France.
The EU Commission was not immediately available for a
comment.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has also called for
sanctions on companies that do not respect their contractual
obligations with the EU.
When the EU's export control mechanism was introduced in
late January it triggered an outcry from importing countries who
feared their vaccine supplies might be affected.
On Thursday two separate sources told Reuters the EU blocked
a shipment of AstraZeneca's vaccine destined for
Australia after the drug manufacturer failed to meet its EU
contract commitments.
The sources said AstraZeneca had requested permission from
the Italian government to export some 250,000 doses from its
Anagni plant, near Rome.
Australian lawmakers said they were unfazed. Health Minister
Greg Hunt said the country had already received its first
shipment of the vaccine, which would be enough until a batch
being produced domestically by CSL Ltd was completed.
"This is one shipment from one country," Hunt said in a
statement.
"This shipment was not factored into our distribution plan
for coming weeks," he added.
In January, AstraZeneca cut its supplies to the EU in the
first quarter to 40 million doses from 90 million foreseen in
the contract, and later told EU states it would cut deliveries
by another 50% in the second quarter. AstraZeneca later said it
was striving to supply missing doses for the second quarter from
outside Europe.
Until the decision to bloc the shipment to Australia, the EU
had authorised all requests for export since the scheme's debut
on Jan. 30 to Feb. 26, which amounted to 150 requests for
millions of shots to 29 countries, including Britain, the United
Arab Emirates and Canada, an EU Commission spokeswoman said.
She added, however, that at least one other request was
withdrawn by an exporting company. She declined to elaborate.
Export requests mostly concern the Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine which is manufactured in Belgium. AstraZeneca
and Moderna shots have also been exported from
the EU.
Since Jan. 30 more than 8 million vaccines were shipped from
the EU to Britain, a third EU source said.
Britain has so far prevented the export of AstraZeneca
vaccines to the EU, using a UK-first clause in its supply
contract with the Anglo-Swedish firm, EU officials have said.
The United States also has regulations that effectively ban
vaccine exports, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von
der Leyen, told a news conference last week.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio, John Chalmers
and Giselda Vagnoni, with additional reporting by Byron Kaye in
Sydney; Editing by Toby Chopra and Sonya Hepinstall)
