Beyond frictionless access: a testable downstream accountability framework for the WHO pathogen access and benefit-sharing annex

The World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement depends on a workable Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex that can reconcile rapid pathogen sharing with equitable access to pandemic-related benefits. This viewpoint presents a testable downstream accountability proposal rather than a description of agreed PABS rules. Article 12 already establishes the PABS system, requires the annex to address traceability, provides for legally binding contracts with participating manufacturers, and sets a target for WHO access to 20% of real-time production during a pandemic emergency. The proposal developed here adds an operational downstream trigger, persistent provenance identifiers, pass-through contractual duties, transparent compliance review, and pooled allocation. Routine public-health and non-commercial scientific access would remain rapid and low-friction, and obligations would arise when documented PABS use enters defined product-oriented, intellectual-property, regulatory, licensing, manufacturing, or commercial activity. Persistent identifiers would document provenance, not legal causation, while pooled benefit sharing would avoid sequence-by-sequence valuation. The model also acknowledges unresolved questions of legal authority, national access and benefit-sharing law, allocation governance, non-participating manufacturers, and political acceptability that require negotiation and prospective testing.