Most member nations spoke in support of the declaration, but some rich countries had strong objections.

The United States and the European Union on Friday rejected a declaration by member countries of the United Nations that pledged international collaboration and solidarity in preparing for and responding to pandemics.

The declaration, the product of a high-level U.N. meeting on pandemic preparedness, is largely ceremonial. It is not legally binding, and does not set rules for what countries should do during pandemics. But its universal endorsement would have signaled a powerful expression of global political commitment to the issue.

Its rejection by some of the wealthiest countries sharpened the divide that became apparent during the coronavirus pandemic, when low-income nations lagged richer countries by more than a year in being able to provide vaccines to citizens.

The declaration will now be considered at a future meeting of the General Assembly, where it is still likely to garner enough votes to be adopted.

The reasons for the disagreements varied. The European Union said parts of the document crossed “red lines” on intellectual property protections, and that “technology transfer must be voluntary and on mutually agreed terms.”

“The E.U. supports the important overarching objective of the declaration — strengthening pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response and its many useful elements — while not agreeing with the elements in the declaration that set us back in the achievement of that objective,” a spokesman said in an emailed statement on Saturday.