IP/C/98  
 
28 November 2023 
(23-8021) Page: 1/6 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights    
 
 
ANNUAL REPORT (20 23) OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRIPS   
1  GENERAL  
1.  Since the period covered by its 20 22 report1, the Council for TRIPS resumed and concluded its 
formal meeting of 12 -13 October 2022 on 15-16 December 2022  and held formal meetings on  
16-17 March , 14-15 June  and 30 -31 October  2023. The minutes of these meetings are found in 
documents  IP/C/M/106 , IP/C/M/106/Add.1 , IP/C/M/107, IP/C/M/107/ Add.1 , IP/C/M/108 , 
IP/C/M/108/Add.1 , IP/C/M/109  and IP/C/M/109/Add.1 .2 Informal  meeting s were held on 
22 November and 6 December 2022, and 8 June and 9 October 2023.  An informal thematic session 
for external stakeholder input was held on 28 September 2023.  
2.  The formal and informal meetings held from November 2022 to March 2023 were chaired by  
Ambassador  Dr Lansana Gberie (Sierra Leone) . The remaining  meeting s were chaired by  
Ambassador  Pimchanok Pitfield  (Thailand ). 
3.  The meetings of the Council were open to all WTO Members, other governments with observer 
status in WTO bodies and certain international intergovernmental organizations granted observer 
status in the Co uncil. The Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), the African 
Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), the African Intellectual Property Organization 
(OAPI) , the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Mone tary Fund (IMF), the 
International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), 
the Organisation  for Economic Co -operation and Development (OECD), the United  Nations (UN), the 
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the World Bank  (WB), 
the World  Customs Organization (WCO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) 
enjoy regular observ er status in the TRIPS Council.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has ad hoc 
observer status in the Council. At its meeting in March 2002, the Council agreed to a  request from 
the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) for observer status during the Council 's 
discussions on the TRIPS  Agreement and public health at tha t and future meetings. At its meeting 
in November 2012, the Council agreed to grant ad hoc  observer status on a meeting -by-meeting 
basis to the European  Free Trade Association (EFTA). Pursuant to this  decision , EFTA was invited to 
attend each formal meetin g on an ad hoc  basis. Decisions on requests for observer status from 
13 other organizations are  pending.3 
2  NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT  
4.  The Council took note of notifications  of new or revised legislative measures  made under 
Article  63.2 of the TRIPS  Agreement. At the Council 's meetings, t he delegations of  Australia; 
Canada; Chile;  Costa Rica; the European Union; The Gambia; Hong Kong, China; Japan; 
the Republic  of Korea; the Republic of Moldova; Chinese Taipei; Türkiye; Ukraine; and the 
United  Kingdom  provided further background to the notifications they had filed . To date, 
139 Members have notified, pursuant to Article  63.2, all or part of their implementing legislation 
relating to all provisions of the Agreemen t. 114 Members have provided responses to the Checklist 
of Issues on Enforcement. During the reporting period, a number of Members updated their earlier 
notifications of laws and regulations , and several of them provided explanations of the significance 
of this new and amended legislation . 148 Members have notified contact points pursuant to 
 
1 Document IP/C/93 . 
2 Documents IP/C/M/109  and IP/C/M/109/Add.1  to be circulated.  
3 The organizations in question are listed in document IP/C/W/52/Rev.1 4. For more information, see 
also https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/xtrips_e/igo_observer_e.htm .  IP/C/98  
 
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  Article  69, for the  purposes of cooperating with each other with a view to eliminating international 
trade in goods infringin g intellectual property rights.  
5.  At the March meeting the Council took note of the Secretariat 's Annual Report on Notifications 
and Other Information Flows4, which presents and summarizes submission rates and identifies 
trends for each of the primary TRIPS transparency mechanisms. As in previou s report s5, 
Member -specific information relating to each of the transparency mechanisms is provided in an 
Annex to the report.  
3  REVIEWS OF NATIONAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS  
6.  The Council began preparations for the review of the national implementing legislation of Samoa. 
The Chair also invited delegations to consider how to make best use of this agenda item, including 
by reverting to any matter stemming from previous reviews an d by proposing further reviews in the 
future.   
4  REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 27.3(B); RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 
THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY; AND 
PROTECTION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE  
7.  Following the practice in its past meetings that delegates address these three agenda items 
together, the Council continued to discuss them together on the basis of contributions by Members , 
including as regards the patentability of life forms and the introduction of a mandatory di sclosure 
requirement in the TRIPS Agreement . This discussion also covered  the earlier suggestion that the 
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) be invited to brief the Council on the 
outcome of the tenth meeting of the Conference of t he Parties to the CBD held in Nagoya, Japan in 
October 2010, and the suggestion that the WTO Secretariat be requested to update the three factual 
notes6 that summarized the points delegations had made in the Council 's past discussio ns on these 
three agenda items.  
5  NON-VIOLATION AND SITUATION COMPLAINTS  
8.  As mandated by the Ministerial  Decision taken at the twelfth  Ministerial Conference in Geneva7 
in June 2 022, the Council continued to consider the scope and modalities for the application of 
non-violation and situation complaints under the TRIPS  Agreement  at its formal meetings  on 
16-17 March, 14 -15 June and 30 -31 October 2023  including by reference to  earlier 
communications.8 The Chair consulted on this issue with Members and group coordinators in different 
settings in April  and May 2023 , as reported in a communication to Members o f 25 May , and on 
6-9 November  2023. At the formal 14-15 June and 30 -31 October meeting Members considered 
whether to invite the Secretariat to provide a  factual overview of common elements in Members ' 
positions from past interventions and submissions to help focus discussions on substantive 
differences.   At its October meeting, the Council agreed to keep the agenda item open and to 
reconvene on short notice once work was sufficiently mature , with a vie w to agreeing on a 
recommendation to the 13th Ministerial Conference.  
6  REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT UNDER ARTICLE  71 
9.  At the Council 's formal meeting s on 16-17 March, 14 -15 June  and 30 -31 October 2023 , the Chair 
recalled that the Cou ncil w as required under Article  71 to review the Agreement, having regard to 
the experience gained in its implementation, and that it had not discharged this obligation. In April 
and May  2023 t he Chair consulted with Members and group coordinators in different settings on the 
possibility of restarting the review as a long -term forum for exchanging experiences on domestic 
implementation of TRIPS obligations in selected areas , as reported in a communication to Membe rs 
of 25 May . Members considered  this possibility during the formal meetings o f 14-15 June and 
30-31 October .  
 
4 Document  IP/C/W/696 . 
5 Document s IP/C/W/676  and IP/C/W/ 687/Rev.1 . 
6 Documents IP/C/W/ 368/Rev.1 , IP/C/W/369/Rev.1  and IP/C/W/370/Rev.1 . 
7 Document WT/L/1 137. 
8 See documents IP/C/W/599 , IP/C/W/385/Rev.1 , IP/C/W/385/Rev.1/Add.1  - IP/C/W/385/Rev.1/ Add.3 . IP/C/98  
 
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  7  REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE SECTION ON 
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 24.2  
10.  At the Council 's formal meetings on 16-17 March, 14 -15 June and 30 -31 October 2023 , the 
Chair invited delegations that had not yet provided responses to the Checklist of Questions on the 
application of the TRIPS  Agreement in the area of geographical indications9 to do so . The Chair also 
called upon delegations that had already provided responses to  provide updates , to the extent there 
had been any significant changes to the way they provided protection to geographical indications.  
11.  In line with the Council 's recommendation made in March 2010,  Members were also encouraged 
to share information on bilateral agreements related to the protection of geographical indications 
into which they had entered.  
8  REVIEW OF THE SPECIAL COMPULSORY LICENSING SYSTEM  
12.  At the Council 's formal meetings on 16-17 March, 14 -15 June and 30 -31 October 202 3, the 
Chair update d delegations on the status of acceptances of the Protocol  Amending the 
TRIPS  Agreement . At these meeting s, the Chair  encouraged Members that were yet to notify their 
accept ance of the Protocol to ensure that necessary measures were being taken at the domestic 
level in order to pr oceed in a timely fashion.  At its meeting in October, the Council agreed to 
recommend extending the acceptance period until 31 December 2025 , or suc h later date as may be 
decided by the Ministerial Conference , and submitted a draft decision to the General Council for 
adoption.10 
13.   At its formal meeting on 30-31 October , the Council took up the annual review  of the functioning 
of the System , pursuant to paragraph 7 of the Annex to the amended TRIPS Agreement and 
paragraph  8 of the  Decision  of 30 August 2003 on the Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the 
Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health , respectively . The Council 's repor t to 
the General Council on the operation of the System  has been circulated as document IP/C/97 . 
9  IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 66.2  
14.  At its formal meeting on 16-17 March , the Council followed up its twentieth  annual review of 
developed Members ' reports on their implementation of Article 66.2 . Members also discussed the 
annual workshop on the implementation of Article 66.2, held immediately prior  to the meeting , and 
an informal  Secretariat note11 summarizing responses to a survey on least developed countries ' 
needs and priorities for technology transfer . 
15.  At the Council 's formal meeting on 14-15 June , developed  Members were invited to submit 
updates to their most recent reports on actions they had taken or planned in pursuance of their 
commitments under Article  66.2 for consideration at the Council 's meeting in October . 
16.  At its formal meetin g on 30-31 October 2023 , the Council took up its twent y-first annual review 
of developed Members ' reports on their implementation of Article 66.2. For this review, the Council 
reviewed the second  set of updates to the seventh set of new detailed reports presented by  the 
following developed Members:  Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan , Norway, Switzerland, 
the United Kingdom, and the United States  of America .12 
10  TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY -BUILDING  
17.  At its formal meeting on 16-17 March , the Council followed up it s annual review of technical 
cooperation held at its meeting in October  2022.  
18.  At its formal meeting on 14-15 June , the Council invited developed Members to supply 
information on their activities pursuant to Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement prior to the annual 
review of technical cooperation at its meeting in October . Intergovernmental organizations that have 
 
9 Circulated in documents IP/C/13  and IP/C/13/ Add.1 . 
10 Circulated as document IP/C/96. 
11 Document RD/IP/52 . 
12 Circulated as d ocuments  IP/C/R/TTI/AUS/ 4, IP/C/R/TTI/CAN/ 4, IP/C/R/TTI/EU/ 4, IP/C/R/TTI/JPN/ 4, 
IP/C/R/TTI/NOR/ 4, IP/C/R/TTI/CHE/ 4, IP/C/R/TTI/GBR/ 4, and IP/C/R/TTI/USA/ 4. IP/C/98  
 
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  observe r status in the TRIPS Council were invited to provide information on their activities of 
relevance and, further, the WTO Secretariat was requested to report on its activities. The Secretariat 
provided a factual overview of trends with respect to the annual reports and contact points submitted 
to-date related to Article 67 .13 
19.  The Council conducte d its annual review of technical cooperation at its formal meeting on 
30-31 October, on the basis of updated information received from the following developed Members: 
Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland , the United 
Kingdom, and the United States  of America .14 Updated information was also received from  the GCC, 
UNCTAD, WCO, WHO, WIPO , as well as from the WTO Secretariat .15 
11  IP AND COVID -19 
20.  At its formal meetings on 16-17 March, 14 -15 June and 30 -31 October 2023 , the Council had 
on its agenda an item on "IP and COVID -19", under which it discussed the list entitled  "COVID -19: 
Measures regarding Trade-Related Inte llectual Property Rights " prepared by the Secretariat16, any 
information communicated under paragraph  5 of the Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement17, 
and any initiatives under paragraph  24 of the Ministerial Declaration on the WTO Response to the 
COVID -19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics  (Pandemic Declaration).18 
21.  At its 30 -31 October meeting, the Council had before it a communication sub mitted by the 
United Kingdom in relation to paragraph 24 of the Pandemic Declaration entitled "Intellectual 
Property, Voluntary Licensing and Technology Transfer"19, which was also submitted to the Working 
Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology.  
12  PARAGRA PH 8 OF THE MINISTERIAL DECISION ON THE TRIPS AGREEMENT  
22.  On 15 -16 December 2022 t he Council resumed discussions of an item entitled "Paragraph 8 of 
the Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement", held open from its formal 12-13 October 2022 
meeting. Parag raph 8 of the Decision provides that Members will take a decision on the extension 
of the Decision to cover the production and supply of COVID -19 therapeutics and diagnostics no 
later than six months from its adoption.20 The Council had before it a proposa l submitted by a group 
of 65 Members for the General Council to extend the Decision mutatis mutandis to diagnostics and 
therapeutics.21 On 16 December  the Council recommended that the General Council extend the 
deadline .22 On 20 December 2022 the General C ouncil agreed to the Council 's recommendation .  
23.  Members continued to discuss whether the Decision should be extended to COVID -19 
diagnostics and therapeutics at formal meetings held on 16-17 March, 14 -15 June and 30 -31 October 
2023. This item was also disc ussed at informal meetings held in November and December 2022 , and 
June and October 2023. The Chair consulted on the matter with Members and group coordinators in 
different settings in April and May 2023, as reported in a communication to Members circulated on 
25 May 2023 , and in November 2023 . At its October meeting the Council agreed to keep the agenda 
item open with a view to reconvening the meeting when Members are closer to an agreement on 
the matter.  
24.  On 28 September 2023 the Council held its first ever informal thematic session for external 
stakeholder input, in order to gather facts and take stock of COVID -19-related developments 
 
13 Document RD/IP/53 . 
14 Circulated as d ocuments  IP/C/R/TC/AUS/ 4, IP/C/R/TC/CAN/ 4, IP/C/R/TC/EU/ 4, IP/C/R/TC/JPN/ 4, 
IP/C/R/TC/NZL/2 , IP/C/R/TC/NOR/ 4, IP/C/R/TC/CHE/ 4, IP/C/R/TC/GBR/ 4, IP/C/R/TC/USA/ 4. 
15 Circulated as d ocument s IP/C/R/TC/GCC/ 4, IP/C/R/TC/UNCTAD/ 4, IP/C/R/TC/WCO/ 2, 
IP/C/R/TC/WHO/ 4, IP/C/R/TC/WIPO/ 4, IP/C/R/TC/WTO -OMC/ 4. 
16 Available from https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/trade_related_ip_measure_e.htm . 
17 Document WT/L/1141 . 
18 Document WT/L/1142 . 
19 Circulated as document IP/C/W/704/Rev.1 -WT/WGTTT/W/35 . 
20 Document WT/L/1141 . 
21 Circulated as document IP/C/W/694 , and subsequently circulated in the General Council as 
WT/GC/W/860 . 
22 Document IP/C/95 . IP/C/98  
 
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  relevant to this item. Over 20 speakers from diverse international organizations, civil society, 
industry, and aca demia participated.23 
13  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INNOVATION: CROSS -BORDER COOPERATION AMONG 
IP OFFICES  
25.  At the request of Australia; Canada; the European Union; Hong Kong, China; Japan; Singapore; 
Switzerland; Chinese Taipei ; the United  Kingdom and the Unite d States of America , the Council had 
on the agenda of its formal meeting on 16-17 March  an item on "Intellectual Property  and 
Innovation : Cross -Border Cooperation Among IP Offices ". It had before it a communication 
co-sponsored by these delegations .24  
14  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE 1998 WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC 
COMMERCE  
26.  The Council had on the agenda of its formal meeting on 14-15 June an item on "Intellectual 
Property  and the 1998 Work Programme on Electronic Commerce ". It had before it a communication 
on the topic from South Africa .25 
15  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INNOVATION: RESEARCH COLLABORATION ACROSS 
BORDERS  
27.  At the request of Australia; the European Union; Hong Kong, China; Japan; Singapore; 
Switzerland; Chinese Taipei; the United Kingdom; and the United States of America , the Council had 
on the agenda of its formal meeting on 14-15 June  an item on "Intellectual Property and Innovation: 
Research Collaboration Across Borders ". It had before it a communicati on co -sponsor ed by these 
delegations .26 
16  THE ROLE OF TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY IN RESILIENCE BUILDING: 
REINVIGORATING THE DISCUSSIONS IN THE WTO ON TRADE AND TRANSFER OF 
TECHNOLOGY  
28.  At the request of the African Group, the Council had on the agenda of its formal meeting on 
30-31 October an item on  "The Role of Transfer of Technology in Resilience Building: Reinvigorating 
the Discussions in the WTO  on Trade and Transfer of Technology ". It had before it 
two communications on the topic from the African Group, one corresponding to the name of the 
agenda item27 and another entitled "The Role of Transfer of Technology in Resilience Building: The 
TRIPS  Agreement".28 With the agreement of the African Group, the Council also discussed a 
submission from India entitled  "Reinvigorating Discussions on the Relationship Between Trade and 
the Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technologies to Developing Countries to Address Climate 
Change".29  
17  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INNOVATION: INCUBATORS AND ACCELERATORS ' 
SUPPORT OF START -UPS OPERATING IN A CROSS -BORDER ENVIRONMENT  
29.  At the request of Canada; the European Union; Hong  Kong, China; Japan; Singapore; 
Switzerland; Chinese Taipei; the United Kingdom; and the United States of America, the Council had 
on the agenda of its formal m eeting on 30 -31 October an item on "Intellectual Property and 
Innovation: Incubators and Accelerators ' Support of Start -ups Operating in a Cross -Border 
Environment". It had before it a communication co -sponsored by these delegations.30 
 
23 The programme and materials made available by speakers are available to Members online: 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/trip_2809202308_e/trip_2809202308_e.htm . A Chair's report 
on the Thematic Session was circulated in document IP/C/W/ 706. 
24 Circulated as document IP/C/W/6 97. 
25 Circulated as document IP/C/W/6 98. 
26 Circulated as document IP/C/W/6 99. 
27 Circulated as document IP/C/W/700 . 
28 Circulated as document IP/C/W/701 . 
29 Circulated as document JOB/IP/70.  
30 Circulated as document IP/C/W/705 . IP/C/98  
 
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  18  INFORMATION ON RELEV ANT DEVELOPMENTS ELSEWHERE IN THE WTO  
30.  At the Council 's formal meetings on 16-17 March, 14 -15 June and 30 -31 October 2023  the 
WTO Secretariat provided an  overview of the  wide range of  trade-related measures and experiences 
in the field of intellectual property that had been  raised by Members in recent WTO Trade Policy 
Reviews.  The Council was also informed of a new acceptance of the Protocol amending the 
TRIPS  Agreement at its formal meeting in June. 
31.  At the Council 's March  meeting , the Chair informed Members that b y means of a communication 
dated 12 December 2022, and revised on 9 February 2023, China requested consultations with the 
United States of America regarding Measures on Certai n Semiconductor and other Products, and 
related services and technologies. The requests had been  circulated on 15 December 2022 and 
10 February 2023, respectively .31 The Chair informed Members at the Council 's Octob er meeting 
that China had requested further consultations  with the United States of America on the same 
matter , by way of a communication circulated on 19 September .32 
19  OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS  
32.  The Council continued its consideration of the p ending requests for  observer status from 
international intergovernmental organizations  at the Council 's formal meetings on 16-17 March, 
14-15 June and 30 -31 October 2023 . 
20  OTHER BUSINESS  
33.  At its meeting in March the Chair recalled that the Ministerial Decision on the Work Programme 
on Electronic Commerce adopted at the twelfth Ministerial Conference33 instructed the General 
Council to reinvigorate the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, based on the existing 
mandate, and to periodically r eview work based on reports submitted by relevant WTO bodies. He 
recalled that the TRIPS Council had had discussions relating to the E -commerce Work Programme 
in 2019 and 2020, when a number of delegations had supported making this a standing item on the 
TRIPS Council 's agenda. Others, however, had preferred that the topic only be taken up on the basis 
of proposals by Members, and he had not detected any movement of positions in this regard. He 
informed Members that, if requested, he would report accordingl y to the General  Council during its 
review of the Work Programme.34 
34.  At its October informal and formal meetings, the Chair referred  to the procedural and 
organizational improvements discussed across other WTO bodies under the heading "Reform by 
Doing" , noting that,  as most of these improvements were already standard practice in the context 
of the TRIPS Council, Members had not raised any such requests in the TRIPS Council . The Chair 
confirmed that she was following the discussion together with th e Secretariat, and said that Members 
should feel free to raise any such suggestions if they so wished.  
 
__________  
 
31 Circulated as d ocument s WT/DS615/1 -G/L/1471 -S/L/438 -G/TRIMS/D/46 -IP/D/44  and 
WT/DS615/1/Rev.1 - G/L/1471/Rev.1 -S/L/438/Rev.1 -G/TRIMS/D/46/Rev.1 -IP/D/44/Rev.1 . 
32 Circulated as d ocument WT/DS615/1/Rev.1/Add.1 -G/L/1471/Rev.1/Add.1 -S/L/438/Rev.1/Add.1 - 
G/TRIMS/D/46/Rev.1/Add.1 -IP/D/44/Rev.1/Add.1 . 
33 Document WT/L/1 143. 
34 An item entitled "Intellectual Property and the 1998 Work Programme on Electronic Commerce " was 
subsequently put on the agenda of the Council 's next meeting , held 14 -15 June,  at the request of South Africa . 
See section  14 above.