G20 signs declaration to require vaccine passports for international travel

Members of the G20 last week signed a declaration to work with the World Health Organization in requiring vaccine passports for international travel. 

The declaration was presented at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, and was signed by Biden along with the leaders of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the European Union. 

“We welcome joint research and joint production of vaccines, including enhanced cooperation among developing countries,” read paragraph 23 of the declaration, before talking about “verification methods” such as vaccine passports to “facilitate international travel.” 

“We acknowledge the importance of shared technical standards and verification methods, under the framework of the IHR (2005), to facilitate seamless international travel, interoperability, and recognizing digital solutions and non-digital solutions, including proof of vaccinations.” 

The declaration followed the B20 summit in Bali, a conference involving G20 countries focused on business and economic issues. 

There, Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin called for a digital health passport which will help governments regulate movement during “the next pandemic".  

“Let’s have a digital health certificate acknowledged by WHO — if you have been vaccinated or tested properly — then you can move around,” said the health minister. “So for the next pandemic, instead of stopping the movement of the people 100 percent […] you can still provide some movement of the people.”  

“Indonesia has achieved, G20 country has agreed, this digital certificate using WHO standard, and we will sub it into the next World Health Assembly in Geneva as the revision to international health regulation,” Sadikin boasted before again mentioning “the next pandemic”.  

“Hopefully for the next pandemic, we can still see some movement of the people, some movement of the goods, and movement of the economy,” Sadikin concluded. 

The declaration also stressed the need for central bank digital currencies (CBDC), which it mentioned three times. 

“We welcome continued exploration of how CBDCs could potentially be designed to facilitate cross-border payments, while preserving the stability and integrity of the international monetary and financial system.”