IP/C/87  
 
14 December 2020 
(20-9000) Page: 1/6 
   
 
 
ANNUAL REPORT (20 20) OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRIPS  
1  GENERAL  
1.  Since the period covered by its 201 9 report1, the Council for TRIPS has held  three formal 
meetings, on 6 February , 30 July  and 15-16 October  2020. The minutes of these meetings are to be 
found in documents IP/C/M/ 94, IP/C/M/ 94/Add.1, IP/C/M/ 95 and IP/C/M/ 95/Add.1  and IP/C/M/ 96 
and IP/C/M/ 96/Add.1.2 An open-ended informal meeting was held on 19 June  2020.  
2.  The meeting  in February was chaired by Ambassador Lundeg Purevsuren  (Mongolia) . The 
open-ended informal meeting in June and the formal meeting in July  were chaired by 
Ambassador  Xolelwa  Mlumbi -Peter (South Africa) . 
3.  The meetings of the Council were open to all WTO Mem bers, other governments with observer 
status in WTO bodies and certain international intergovernmental organizations granted observer 
status in the Council. 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 Monetary Fund (IMF), the 
International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UP OV), 
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 that and future meetings. At its meeting 
in November 2012, the Council agreed to grant ad hoc observer status on a meeting -by-meeting 
basis t o the European  Free Trade Association (EFTA). Pursuant to this  decision , EFTA was invited to 
attend each formal meeting on an ad hoc basis. Decisions on requests for observer status from 1 3 
other organizations are  pending.3 
2  NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE PROVISI ONS 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; Brazil; 
Canada; China; European Union; Hong Kong, China; Japan; the Republic of Korea ; Mexico; 
Myanmar; Pakistan; Russian  Federation; Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of; Slovenia; South Africa; 
Chinese  Taipei ; Thailand ; Ukraine ; United Kingdom  and United States  provided further background 
to the notifications they had filed. To date, 13 8 Members have notified, pursuant to Article  63.2, all 
or part of their implementing legislation relating to all provisions of the Agreement. 1 12 Members 
have provided respo nses 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 . 145 Members have 
notified contact points pursuant to Article  69, for the  purposes of cooperating with each other with 
a view to eliminating international trade in goods infringin g intellectual property rights.  
 
1 Document IP/C/ 85. 
2 Documents IP/C/M/ 95/Add.1, IP/C/M/96 and IP/C/M/ 96/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_observ er_e.htm .  IP/C/87  
 
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  3  REVIEWS OF NATIONAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS  
5.  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 and 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  
6.  Following the practice in its p ast 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 disclos ure 
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 the Parties to the CBD held in Nagoya, Japan in 
October 2010, and on the su ggestion that the WTO Secretariat be requested to update the three 
factual notes4 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  
7.  As mandated by the Ministerial Decision taken at the eleven th Ministerial Conference in 
Buenos  Aires5, and as decided by the General Council in December 20196, the Council continued to 
consider the application of non -violation and situation complaints und er the TRIPS Agreement  at 
each of its three formal  meetings , including by reference to  earlier communications.7  
6  REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT UNDER ARTICLE  71 
8.  At the Council's meeting s in February,  July and October , the Chair recalled that the Cou ncil was 
required under Article  71 to review the Agreement, having regard to the experience gained in 
the implementation, and that it had not discharged this obligation. Delegations  were encouraged  to 
consider how to take forward this mandated review.   
7  REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE SECTION ON 
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 24.2  
9.  At the Council's  meetings in February , July and October , 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 indications8 to do so, and also called upon delegations that had already 
provided response s to provide updates to the extent there had been any significant changes to the 
way they provided protection to geographical indications.  
10.  In line with the Council's recommendation made in March 2010, Members were also encouraged 
to share information on b ilateral agreements related to the protection of geographical indications 
into which they had entered.   
8  REVIEW OF THE SPECIAL COMPULSORY LICENSING SYSTEM  
11.  At the Council's meetings in February , July and October , the Chair update d delegations on the 
status of acceptances of the Protocol  Amending the TRIPS Agreement . 
 
4 See documents IP/C/W/ 368/Rev.1, IP/C/W/369/Rev.1 and IP/C/W/370/Rev.1.  
5 See document WT/L/1033 . 
6 See document WT/L/1080.  
7 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.  
8 Circulated in documents IP/C/13 and IP/C/13 /Add.1 . IP/C/87  
 
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  12.  At the meeting s in Febru ary, July and October , the Chair  encouraged Members that were yet to 
notify their acceptance of the Protocol to ensure that necessary measures w ere being taken at 
domestic level in order to proceed in a timely fashion.   
13.   At its meeting in 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 report to 
the General Council on the operation of the System  has been circulated  as document IP/C/86.  
9  IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 66.2  
14.  At its meeting in February , the Council followed up its seventeenth annual review of developed 
country Members' reports on their implementation of Article 66.2.  
15.  At the Council's meeting in July, develop ed country 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 meeting in October , the C ouncil took up its eighteenth  annual review of developed country 
Members' reports on their implementation of Article 66.2. For this review, the Council re viewed the  
second set of updates to the  sixth set of new detailed reports presented by  the following developed 
country Members:  Australia, Canada, European Union, Japan, Switzerland, United Kingdom and 
United States.9  
10  TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY -BUILDING  
17.  At its meeting in February , the Council followed up it s annual review of techn ical co operation 
held at its meeting in October  2019. 
18.  At its meeting in July, the Council invited developed country 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 observer 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 activiti es. In  preparation for the annual review 
it held at its meeting in October , the Council received updated information from the following 
developed country Members: Australia, Canada, European Union, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, 
United Kingdom and United Stat es.10 Updated information was also received from  the GCC, UNCTAD, 
WHO and WIPO , as well as from the WTO Secretariat .11 
11  DRAFT CODEX ALIMENTARIUS STANDARDS – DEFINITION OF "CROSS PROMOTION " 
19.  At the request of Mexico, the Council had on the agenda of its meeting in February an item on 
"Draft Codex Alimentarius Standards – Definition of "Cross -Promotion ". It had before it a 
communication from Mexico on this topic.12 
12  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INN OVATION: SUMMARY OF THE 201 9 THEME —
PUBLIC -PRIVATE COLLABORATIONS IN INNOVATION ; AND 20 20 IP AND INNOVATION 
THEME: MAKING MSMES COMPETITIVE – FEBRUARY 2020 SUBTHEME MAKING MSMES 
COMPETITIVE THROUGH TRADEMARKS  
20.  At the request of Australia; Canada, Chile; Euro pean Union; Japan; Singapore; Switzerland; the 
Republic of Korea ; Chinese Taipei and the United States of America, the Council had on the agenda 
of its meeting in February an item on "Intellectual Property and Innovation: Summary of the 201 9 
 
9 Circulated as documents IP/C/R/TTI/AUS/1, IP/C/R/TTI/ CAN/1, IP/C/R/TTI/ EU/1, IP/C/R/TTI/ JPN/1, 
IP/C/R/TTI/ CHE/1, IP/C/R/TTI/ GBR/1 and IP/C/R/TTI/ USA/1. 
10 Circulated as documents IP/C/R/ TC/AUS/1, IP/C/R/ TC/CAN/1, IP/C/R/ TC/EU/1, IP/C/R/ TC/JPN/1, 
IP/C/R/TC/NOR/1, IP/C/R/TC/NOR/1 /Corr.1, IP/C/R/ TC/CHE/1, IP/C/R/ TC/GBR/1 and IP/C/R/ TC/USA/1 . 
11 Circulated as document s IP/C/R/TC/ GCC/1, IP/C/R/TC/ UNCTAD/1, IP/C/R/TC/ WHO/1, 
IP/C/R/TC/ WIPO/1 and IP/C/R/TC/ WTO-OMC/1.  
12 Circulated in document IP/C/W/660 . IP/C/87  
 
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  Theme  – Public -Private Collaborations in Innovation "; and "2020 IP and Innovation Theme:  Making 
MSMEs Competitive – February 2020 Subtheme Making MSMEs Competitive Through Trademarks ". 
It also had before it two communication s, one on "Summary on the 2019 Theme – Public Private 
Collaborations in Innovation "13, co-sponsored by Australia; Canada ; Chile; European Union; Japan; 
the Republic of Korea; Singapore; Switzerland; Chinese Taipei and the United States of America , 
and the second on "2020 Theme of Making MSMEs Competitive – Making MSMEs Competitive 
Through Trademarks "14, co-sponsored by Australia; Canada; Chile; European Union; Japan; the 
Republic of Korea; Singapore; Switzerland; Chinese Taipei; and the United States of America.   
13  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INNOVATION: MAKING MSMES COMPETITIVE –
MAKING MSMES COMPETITIVE THROUGH INCLUSIVE PROTECTION OF VARIOUS IPS  
21.  At the request of Australia; Canada; Chile; European Union; Japan;  the Republic of Korea;  
Singapore; Switzerland; Chinese Taipei; United Kingdom; and the United States of America, the 
Council had on the agenda of its mee ting in October an item on "Intellectual Property and Innovation: 
Making MSMEs Competitive – Making MSMEs Competitive Through Inclusive Protection of Various 
IPs". At the October meeting, it also had before it a communication on the topic co -sponsored by 
Australia; Canada; Chile; European Union; Japan; the Republic of Korea; Singapore; Switzerland; 
Chinese Taipei; United Kingdom; and the United States of America.15  
14  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST: THE WTO TRIPS AGREEMENT 
AND THE COPYRIGHT THR EE-STEP TEST  
22.  At the request of South Africa, the Council had on the agenda of its meeting in February an item 
on "Intellectual Property and the Public Interest: The WTO TRIPS Agreement and the Copyright 
Three -Step Test ". It had before it a  communication fr om South Africa on this topic.16 
15  IP MEASURES IN THE CONTEXT OF COVID -19 
23.  At the request of South Africa, the Council had on the agenda of its meeting in July an item on 
"IP Measures in the Context of COVID -19", referencing the list of "COVID -19: Measures regarding 
trade -related Intellectual Property Rights" prepared by the Secretariat.17 At the request of the Chair, 
the Council continued discussions under this agenda item at its meeting in October.  
16  LDC GROUP PROPOSAL ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTIC LE 66.2 OF THE 
TRIPS  AGREEMENT  
24.  At the request of Chad, on behalf of the LDC Group, the Council had on the agenda of its meeting 
in July an item on "LDC Group Proposal on the Implementation of Article 66.2 of the 
TRIPS  Agreement". It had before it a communi cation from Chad on behalf of the LDC Group.18 
17  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE 1998 WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC 
COMMERCE  
25.  At the request of South Africa, the Council had on the agenda of its meeting in July an item on 
"Intellectual Property and the 1998 Work  Programme on Electronic Commerce". It had before it a 
communication from South Africa on this topic.19 At the request of the Chair, t he Council continued 
discussions under this agenda item at its meeting in October.  
 
13 Circulated as document s IP/C/W/661 , IP/C/W/661 /Add.1 and IP/C/W/661 /Add.2.  
14 Circulated as documents IP/C/W/6 62, IP/C/W/662 /Corr.1, IP/C/W/662 /Add.1 and IP/C/W/662 /Add.2.  
15 Circulated in document IP/C/W/667.  
16 Circulated in document IP/C/W/663 . 
17 Available from https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/trade_related_ip_measure_ e.htm . 
18 Circulated in document IP/C/W/664 . 
19 Circulated in document IP/C/W/66 5. IP/C/87  
 
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  18  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE PUBLIC IN TEREST: BEYOND ACCESS TO 
MEDICINES AND MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES TOWARDS A MORE HOLISTIC APPROACH TO 
TRIPS FLEXIBILITIES  
26.  At the request of South Africa, the Council had on the agenda of its meeting in July an item on 
"Intellectual Property and the Public Interest: Beyond Access to Medicines and Medical Technologies 
Towards a More Holistic Approach to TRIPS Flexibilities ". It had before it a communication from 
South Africa on this topic.20 
19  LDC GROUP PROPOSAL TO EXTEND THE TRANSITION PERIOD FOR LDC MEMBERS 
UNDER ARTICLE 66.1  
27.  At the request of Chad, on behalf of the LDC Group, the Council had on the agenda of its meeting 
in Oc tober an item on " Duly Motivated Request by LDCs to Extend the Transition Period under 
Article  66.1 of the TRIPS Agreement for Least Developed Country Members". It had before it a 
communication from Chad on behalf of the LDC Group.21  
20  PROPOSAL FOR A WAIVER  FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT 
FOR THE PREVENTION, CONTAINMENT AND TREATMENT OF COVID -19 
28.  At the request of India and South Africa, the Council had on the agenda of its meeting in October 
an item on "Proposal for a Waiver from Certain Provi sions of the TRIPS Agreement for the Prevention, 
Containment and Treatment of COVID -19". It had before it a communication on the topic  from India 
and South Africa,  co-sponsored by  Eswatini  and Kenya.22 The Council agreed to keep open this 
agenda item and t o reconvene the meeting once further developments were sufficiently mature, 
with a view to the Council agreeing on a report on its consideration of this request.  
21  INFORMATION ON RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS ELSEWHERE IN THE WTO  
29.  At the Council's meetings in Februar y, July and October , the WTO Secretariat provided 
an overview of the  wide range of  trade -related measures and experiences in the field of intellectual 
property rights that had been  raised by Members in recent WTO Trade Policy Reviews.  The Council 
was also informed about new acceptances of the Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement at its 
meetings in February and July.  
30.  At the Council's meeting in July, the Chair informed Members that on 29 June 2020, the Dispute 
Settlement Body (DSB) ha d adopted two Appellate Body Reports on Australia – Certain Measures 
Concerning Trademarks, Geographical Indications and Other Plain Packaging Requirements 
Applicable to Tobacco Products and Packaging  (WT/DS435/AB/R and Add.1, and WT/DS441/AB/R 
and Add.1).  The DSB also had adopted the corresponding Panel Reports as upheld by the Appellate 
Body Reports. This information had been circulated in documents IP/D/31/Add.1  and 
IP/D/32/Add.1.23 
22  OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS  
31.  At eac h regular meeting, t he Council continued its consideration of the pending requests 
for observer status from international intergovernmental organizations.   
23  OTHER BUSINESS  
32.  At its meeting in  February , the Council considered how  best to give appropriate follow -up to the 
Ministerial Decision to continue the work under the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce24, 
including a proposal to update an earlier Secretariat background note on the topic that had been 
last revised in 2003.25 The Chair recalled that the General Council Decision adopted on 
 
20 Circulated in document IP/C/W/666 . 
21 Circulated in document IP/C/W/668 and IP/C/W/668/Corr.1.  
22 Circulated in document IP/C/W/669 , IP/C/W/669/Corr.1  and IP/C/W/669/ Add.1. 
23 Also circulated with document symbol WT/DS435/28 and WT/DS441/29.  
24 See document WT/L/1032 . 
25 See document IP/C/W/128/Rev.1.  IP/C/87  
 
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  10 December  201926 instructed the General Council to reinvigorate the Work Programme on 
Electronic Commerce, based on the existing Mandate, and report to MC12 . He informed Members 
that, if so requested, it would be reported  accordingly to the General  Council during its review of the 
Work Programme . 
__________  
 
26 See document WT/L/1079.