RESTRICTED  
  
IP/C/M/73  
 
16 September 2013  
(13-4857)  Page: 1/10  
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights    
 
MINUTES OF MEETING 
HELD IN THE CENTRE WILLIAM RAPPARD ON 11-12 JUNE 2013 
Chairperson: Ambassador Alfredo Suescum (Panama) 
 
 
The present document contains the record of the Council for TRIPS meeting held on 
11-12 June 2013. The statements made during the meeting will be circulated in an addendum to the present document. 
 
_______________ 
 
Subjects discussed  
1   NOTIFICATIONS UNDER PROV ISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT ........................................ 3  
2   REVIEWS OF NATIONAL IM PLEMENTING LEGISLATION .............................................. 3  
2.1   Follow-up to revi ews already und ertaken ...................................................................... 3  
2.2   Arrangements for the review of the nati onal implementing legislation of the Russian 
Federation .................................................................................................................... ... 3 
2.3   Arrangements for the review of the nati onal implementing legislation of Tajikistan .............. 4  
2.4   Arrangements for the review of the nati onal implementing legislation of Montenegro ........... 4  
3   REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 27.3(B) ..................................................... 4  
4   RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION ON 
BIOLOGICAL DI VERSITY .................................................................................................. 4  
5   PROTECTION OF TRADITIONA L KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE ..................................... 4  
6   NON-VIOLATION AND SITUATION COMPLAINTS ......................................................... 5  
7   REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT UNDER 
ARTICLE 71.1 .................................................................................................................. . 5 
8   REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE SECTION ON 
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION S UNDER ARTI CLE 24.2 ...................................................... 6  
9   TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-B UILDING ............................................... 6  
9.1   Arrangements for the annual review ............................................................................. 6  
9.2   Othe r matte rs ...........................................................................................................  7 
10   REQUEST FOR AN EXTENSION OF  THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD UNDER 
ARTICLE 66.1 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT ........................................................................ 7  
11   INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, CLIM ATE CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT ........................... 7  
12   INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INNOVATION: COST-EFFECTIVE 
INNOVATION ................................................................................................................... 8 IP/C/M/73 
 
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  13   INFORMATION ON RELEVANT DEVE LOPMENTS ELSEWHER E IN THE WTO ................. 8  
14   OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS ............................................................................................................. 8  
15   OTHER BU SINESS ...................................................................................................... 9  
15.1   Invitations to ad hoc obse rvers .................................................................................. 9  
15.2   Eleventh Annual Review under Paragraph 2 of the Decision on the "Implementation 
of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement" ............................................................................... 9  
15.3   Othe r revi ews ........................................................................................................ 10 
15.4   Proposal for an EU Di rective on Toba cco Prod ucts ........................................................ 10 
 IP/C/M/73 
 
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1  NOTIFICATIONS UNDER PROVISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT 
1.1.  The Chairman said that, since its meeting in March 2013, the Council had received a number 
of updates to earlier notifications of laws and re gulations notified under Article 63.2 of the TRIPS 
Agreement: 
 The European Union had notified 30 directives, regulations and other legislative measures 
relating to copyright and related rights, trademarks, patents, supplementary protection 
certificates, geographical indications, industrial designs, plant varieties, and undisclosed 
information and clinical trial data;  
 Croatia had notified Patent Regulations and amen dments thereto; in addition, it notified, as 
"other laws and regulations", various rule s concerning copyright and related rights, 
trademarks, geographical indications, industrial  designs, patents, plant variety protection, 
layout-designs of integrated circuits, protection of undisclosed information, medical products, and enforcement, as well as related administrative procedures;  
 Australia had notified various amendments to its laws and regulations on copyright, patents, 
and trademarks, as well as to a number of general IP laws;   
 
 Japan had notified its Patent Act, Trademark Act,  and Design Act; in addition, it had notified 
as "other laws and regulations" related ordinances. 
 
1.2.  Those notifications of laws and regulations were available in the IP/N/1- series of documents, 
and the actual texts of laws in sub-series of documents in electronic form on the Documents Online 
database. 
1.3.  As regards notifications of contact points  under Article 69 for the exchange of information 
and cooperation on trade in infringing goods, since its meeting in March 2013, Cape Verde had 
notified its contact point. In addition, updates to contact points notified earlier had been received 
from the Kyrgyz Republic, Australia and Croatia. The information on the Members' transparency 
toolkit page had been updated accordingly. 
1.4.  The Chairman urged those Members whose initial notifications of laws and regulations 
remained incomplete to submit the outstanding material without delay. Equally, he urged other Members to fulfil their obligation under the TRIPS Agreement to notify any subsequent 
amendments of their laws and regulations without de lay after their entry into force. He especially 
encouraged Members to notify changes made to their laws and/or regulations to implement the 
Decision on TRIPS and public health. 
1.5.  The Council took note of the information provided.  
2  REVIEWS OF NATIONAL IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION 
2.1  Follow-up to reviews already undertaken 
2.1.  The Chairman said that, as regards the revi ews of national implementing legislation that had 
been initiated at the Council's meetings since April 2001, the reviews of two Members remained on 
the Council's agenda, namely those of Fiji; and Saint Kitts and Nevis. He urged the delegations concerned to provide the outstanding material as soon as possible, so as to allow the Council to 
complete the follow-up to those reviews. 
2.2.  The Council took note of the information provided. 
2.2  Arrangements for the review of the nati onal implementing legislation of the Russian 
Federation 
2.3.  The Chairman recalled that the Council had agreed, at its meeting in November 2012, to 
review the national implementing legislation of th e Russian Federation at the present meeting. In IP/C/M/73 
 
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  preparation of the review, Switzerland, the Eu ropean Union and the United States had posed 
questions to the Russian Federation (doc uments IP/C/W/587-589, respectively). 
2.4.  The representative of the Russian Federation said that, since his delegation faced this kind of 
procedures for the first time, it had not managed to present responses before the present meeting. 
His delegation intended to provide responses to the questions posed to it in consultation with its 
partners in the Council. He requested that the Council postpone the review until the Council's meeting in October. 
2.5.  The Chairman suggested that, in light of th e statement by the representative of the Russian 
Federation, the Council revert to the review of the national implementing legislation of the Russian 
Federation at its meeting scheduled for 10-11 October 2013. 
2.6.  The Council so agreed. 
2.3  Arrangements for the review of the nati onal implementing legislation of Tajikistan 
2.7.  The Chairman recalled that, at its meeting in March 2013, the Council had requested the 
Secretariat to contact Tajikistan, a newly acceded Member, concerning its notification under the 
TRIPS Agreement. He suggested that the Council schedule the review of the national implementing 
legislation of Tajikistan for the Council's first meeting in 2014, and that the Council revert to the arrangements for that review at its meeting in October. 
2.8.  The Council so agreed . 
2.4  Arrangements for the review of the nati onal implementing legislation of Montenegro 
2.9.  The Chairman recalled that, at its meeting in March 2013, the Council had agreed to review 
the national implementing legislation of Monteneg ro, also a newly acceded Member, at its meeting 
scheduled for 10-11 October 2013. Concerning the arrangements for that review, the Council had 
set the following target dates for the submission of questions and answers: questions should be 
submitted to Montenegro, with a copy to the Se cretariat, by 1 August 2013; and responses to 
questions posed within that deadline should be submitted by 12 September 2013. 
2.10.  The Council took note of the information provided. 
3  REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 27.3(B) 
4  RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION ON 
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY 
5  PROTECTION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE 5.1.  The Chairman suggested that the Council  continue to discuss the three agenda items 
together on the basis of contributions by Members.  As requested by the Council at its meeting in 
March 2013, he had continued his predecessor's consultations on the suggestions that the Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) be invited to brief the Council on the 
Nagoya Protocol that had been adopted at the te nth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to 
the CBD held in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010. Furthermore, at that meeting, the Council had 
also requested him to consult on Ecuador's proposal that the Secretariat be requested to update 
three factual notes that summarized the points delegations had made in the Council's past 
discussions on the review of the provisions of Article 27.3(b); on the relationship between the 
TRIPS Agreement and the CBD; and protection of traditional knowledge and folklore. He said that, unfortunately, he was not in a position to report  any new developments in delegations' positions 
on those two matters. 
5.2.  The representatives of Indonesia, Brazil, Ch ina, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, India, 
Bangladesh, Colombia, Peru, South Africa, Cuba, Ecuador, Nepal on behalf of the LDC Group, 
Switzerland, El Salvador, the United States, Japa n, Korea, New Zealand and Canada took the floor. 
The statements will be reproduced in an addendum to the present record. IP/C/M/73 
 
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  5.3.  As to the suggestion that the WIPO Secretar iat be requested to brief the Council on the on-
going work in the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), the Chairman said that, as an observer in 
the Council, the WIPO Secretariat could request the floor whenever it deemed necessary, and that 
any delegation interested in such a report could contact the delegation of WIPO to see if that 
would be a possibility in the future. In light of the discussion, he suggested that the Council 
request the Chair to continue consulting on the suggestions that the CBD Secretariat be invited to 
brief the Council on the outcome of the Nagoya me eting, and that the Secretariat be requested to 
update three factual notes that summarize the points delegations have made in the Council's past discussions on these three agenda items. 
5.4.  The Council took note of the statements made and so agreed. 
6  NON-VIOLATION AND SITUATION COMPLAINTS 6.1.  The Chairman recalled that, at the Eighth Se ssion of the Ministerial Conference, Ministers had 
directed the Council to continue its examination of the scope and modalities for complaints of the 
types provided for under subparagraphs 1(b) and 1(c) of Article XXIII of GATT 1994 (so-called 
"non-violation and situation complaints") and make recommendations to their next Session. It was agreed that, in the meantime, Members would no t initiate such complaints under the TRIPS 
Agreement.
1 He said that this meant that the Council should agree on its recommendations to the 
Bali Ministerial Conference at its end-of-year meeting scheduled for 10-11 October. 
6.2.  At the Council's November 2012 meeting, many delegations had welcomed the updated 
Secretariat note summarizing the Council's earlier discussions on the matter,2 as well as a briefing 
session it had organized. At its last meeting in March, the Council had continued its consideration 
of this matter, and requested the Chair to hold consultations on the matter. 
6.3.  In his consultations, he had said that he  would welcome any feedback from delegations on 
whether they thought that there was anything more that the Chair or the Secretariat could do to 
further facilitate the Council's  discussion of the matter.  
6.4.  He indicated that he intended to intensify consultations prior to the next meeting with a view 
to enabling the Council to agree on its recommendations to the Ministerial Conference at its 
meeting in October. While this might appear a low priority issue, it should be borne in mind that under the TRIPS Agreement the Council was originally required to make these recommendations over 12 years ago, in 1999. 
6.5.  The United States, India, China, Brazil, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, South Africa, 
Ecuador, Cuba, Switzerland, Nigeria, the European  Union, and the United States took the floor 
under this item. The statements will be reproduced in an addendum to the present record. 
6.6.  The Chairman reiterated that he intended to intensify his consultations on the matter with a 
view to enabling the Council to agree on its reco mmendations to the Bali Ministerial Conference at 
its October meeting. He said that, in the meantime, he would remain available to any delegation 
that would have any ideas or suggestions to share. He also noted some delegations' wish to 
participate in the consultations. 
6.7.  The Council took note of the statements made  and agreed to revert to the matter at its next 
meeting. 
7  REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT UNDER ARTICLE 71.1 
7.1.  No statements were made by Members under this agenda item. 7.2.  The Council agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting. 
                                               
1 Document WT/L/842.  
2 Document IP/C/W/349/Rev.2.  IP/C/M/73 
 
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  8  REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE SECTION ON 
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 24.2 
8.1.  The Chairman recalled that Article 24.2 prov ided that the Council shall keep under review the 
application of the provisions of the Section on geographical indications of the Agreement. The 
principal tool used to coordinate the review process was a Checklist of Questions contained in 
document IP/C/13 and Addendum 1, which a num ber of Members had submitted, but many had 
not yet completed. In addition, at its meeting in  March 2010, the Council had agreed to encourage 
Members to share information on and notify to the Council bilateral agreements relating to the 
protection of GIs which they had entered into.  
8.2.  As the question of GI protection remained  of continuing interest and a point of discussion, 
Members were likely to benefit from a more comp lete and up-to-date picture. He therefore urged 
those delegations that had not yet done so to consider providing responses to the questions. 
Likewise, he encouraged those Members having already responded to the Checklist to provide updates to the extent there had been any signif icant changes in the way that they provided 
protection to GIs. He added that the Secretar iat advised that only 49 Members had submitted 
responses, and that the majority of these dated back to the period from 1998 to 2002. Since there 
had been significant developments at the national and bilateral levels, it would be beneficial for 
Members to have a fuller base of updated information.  
8.3.  In line with the Council's recommendatio n made in March 2010, he also encouraged any 
Member that was a party to any bilateral agreements related to the protection of GIs and had not yet shared such information with the Council to do so  as soon as possible. He indicated that so far, 
only three Members had provided such information in writing; in addition, five other Members had 
orally provided information at past Council meetings. 
8.4.  No statements were made by Members under this agenda item. 
8.5.  The Council agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting. 
9  TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING 
9.1  Arrangements for the annual review 
9.1.  The Chairman said that the Council had traditionally undertaken its annual review of technical 
cooperation each autumn. He therefore suggested that the Council hold the annual review at its 
meeting scheduled for 10-11 October. Accordingly, he suggested that the Council invite developed country Members to supply information on their activities pursuant to Article 67 of the TRIPS 
Agreement. Other Members who also made availa ble technical cooperation were encouraged to 
share information on these activities if they so wished. He also suggested that the Council invite those intergovernmental organizations that had observer status in the Council to provide 
information on their activities of relevance and that the WTO Secretariat also be instructed to 
report on its activities. He proposed that the Council request that this information be made available by 18 September in order to allow its timely circulation before the meeting. 
9.2.  The Council so agreed. 
9.3.  The Chairman said that the notifications on  Article 67 activities represented one area where 
the Council produced a very significant amount of invaluable documentation, containing 
information which could be difficult to access and review to get an overall picture of developments. 
In view of the on-going implementation of the recommendations for savings and more efficient use 
of resources made by the Budget Committee3, the Council had invited, at its meeting in 
June 2012, the Secretariat to identify ways of  facilitating the submission, processing and 
circulation of this information, and to consult with delegations at a technical level. He invited the 
Secretariat to provide an update on its work to develop an information management tool for this purpose. 
                                               
3 Document WT/BFA/128 . IP/C/M/73 
 
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  9.4.  The information provided by the representati ve of the Secretariat will be reproduced in an 
addendum to the present record. 
9.2  Other matters 9.5.  The Chairman recalled that, in its past meetings, the Council had also discussed in this 
context LDC priority needs for technical and financial co-operation.  9.6.  He said that Australia had provided an up date on its notification of a contact point for 
technical co-operation on TRIPS. The information on the Members' transparency toolkit page had 
been updated accordingly. 
9.7.  The representatives of the European Unio n, Nepal, Uganda, India, Brazil, Japan, the 
European Union, South Africa, Nepal and Rwanda  took the floor under this agenda item. The 
statements will be reproduced in an addendum to the present record. 
9.8.  The Council took note of the statements made  and agreed to revert to the matter at the next 
meeting. 
10  REQUEST FOR AN EXTENSION OF THE TR ANSITIONAL PERIOD UNDER ARTICLE 66.1 
OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT 
10.1.  The Chairman recalled that, at the Council's  meeting in November 2012, Haiti on behalf of 
the LDC Group had presented, under "Other Business", a request for an extension of the current 
transition period under Article 66.1 of the TR IPS Agreement that the LDC Group had submitted 
just prior to that meeting (IP/C/W/583). The extended general transition period was set to expire on 1 July 2013. At the request of Nepal on behalf of the LDC Group, the Council had had this item 
on the agenda of its meeting in March 2013. After its first discussion of the request, the Council 
had agreed to revert to the matter at the present meeting, and had requested the Chair to hold 
consultations with a view to resolving the matter at the present meeting.  
10.2.  He said that, in light of the consultations, he had circulated for Members' consideration a 
draft decision on the extension of the transiti on period under Article 66.1 for least developed 
country Members. This draft had been discussed at the Council's informal meetings on 7 June and 
briefly before before the present meeting. In li ght of those discussions, he suggested that the 
Council adopt the decision as contained in document JOB/IP/8. 
10.3.  The Council so agreed.
4 
10.4.  The Chairman thanked all the delegations in volved in the consultations for their hard work 
and considerable efforts, as well as those delegations which, although not directly involved, had 
provided support and counsel in the course of the consultation process. He extended his thanks to 
the Secretariat, which at all times was working alongside the process, and finally his predecessor, Ambassador Castillo, who had started off the consultation process and set it off on the right track. 
10.5.  The representatives of Nepal on behalf of  the LDC Group; Haiti; the Dominican Republic; 
India; Morocco on behalf of the African Group; El Salvador; Lesotho; Brazil; South Africa; China; 
Australia; Norway; Mexico; Argentina; Uruguay; Chile; Japan; the United States; Canada; the 
European Union; Hong Kong, China; Korea; Switzerland; Tanzania; Rwanda and the Holy See (as 
Observer) took the floor under this agenda item . The statements will be reproduced in an 
addendum to the present record. 
10.6.  The Council took note of the statements made. 
11  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, CLIMATE CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT 11.1.  The Chairman said that the item had been put on the agenda at the written request of the 
delegation of Ecuador. He recalled that, at the Council's meeting in March 2013, Ecuador had 
                                               
4 The Council's decision on "Extension of the Tran sition Period under Articl e 66.1 for Least Developed 
Country Members" was subsequently circulated in document IP/C/64. IP/C/M/73 
 
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  briefly presented, under "Other Business", its submission entitled "Contribution of Intellectual 
Property for Facilitating the Transfer of Envi ronmentally Rational Technology" (IP/C/W/585). 
11.2.  The representatives of Ecuador, Cuba, Indo nesia, China, India, the Plurinational State of 
Bolivia, Bangladesh, Nepal on behalf of the LD C Group, Rwanda, Brazil, the Kingdom of Saudi 
Arabia, the United States, Japan, the Europe an Union, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, 
New Zealand, Ecuador, Bolivia, and the United St ates took the floor under this agenda item. The 
statements will be reproduced in an addendum to the present record. 
11.3.  In concluding, the Chairman said that, as the representative of Ecuador had said in his 
initial statement, Ecuador's submission had been us eful in sparking discussion on the relationship 
between IP, climate change and development. He  believed that the discussion would continue, 
particularly as some delegations had indicated that they were keen to continue the debate. He 
noted, however, that there were diverging positions with regard to a post-Bali programme or 
agenda. 
11.4.  The Council took note of the statements made. 
12  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INNOVATION: COST-EFFECTIVE INNOVATION 12.1.  The Chairman said that the item had been put on the agenda at the written request by the 
delegations of Canada, Chile, the European Unio n, Korea, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, and the 
United States. 
12.2.  The representatives of the United States, Canada, Korea, Chile, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, 
the European Union, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, India and Ecuador took the floor under this 
agenda item. The statements will be reproduced in an addendum to the present record. 
12.3.  The Council took note of the statements made. 
13  INFORMATION ON RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS ELSEWHERE IN THE WTO 
13.1.  The Chairman said that, by means of a communication, dated 3 May 2013, Cuba had 
requested consultations with Australia regarding the issue of "Australia - Certain Measures 
Concerning Trademarks, Geographical Indicati ons and Other Plain Packaging Requirements 
Applicable to Tobacco Products and Packaging"  (document IP/D/33). The following Members had 
requested to join those consultations: Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Ukraine, Honduras, the 
European Union, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Brazil, Guatemala and Nicaragua (documents WT/DS458/2 to 13, respectively). 
13.2.  The Council took note of the information provided. 
14  OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 14.1.  The Chairman recalled that, at its meeting in November 2012, the Council had agreed to 
grant ad hoc observer status on a meeting-by-meeting basis to the Cooperation Council of the 
Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). There remained 
13 pending requests for observer status in the TRIPS Council by other intergovernmental organizations. The updated list was contained in document IP/C/W/52/Rev.13. In June 2011, the 
Council had requested the Secretariat to contact the IGOs with pending requests to update any 
information they had provided earlier, including on the nature of their work and the reasons for their interest in being granted observer status. As regards those IGOs, the Secretariat had received updated information as requested from the Conférence des Ministres de l'Agriculture de 
l'Afrique de l'Ouest et du Centre (CMA/AOC), th e International Organization of Vine and Wine 
(OIV), the South Centre, and the United Nation s Environment Programme (UNEP). Furthermore, 
the CBD Secretariat had informed the Secretariat that it felt that no update was necessary, having 
already renewed its request as recently as 24 November 2010 by letter addressed to the WTO 
Director-General. This information was available on the Members' website. 
14.2.  As requested by the Council at its last m eeting, he had continued his consultations on the 
requests for observer status from the five IGOs that had recently provided updated information, as IP/C/M/73 
 
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  well as on the requests from eight other organizations that had not yet updated their information. 
He said that, unfortunately, he was not in a position  to report any new thinking in respect of those 
requests. 
14.3.  The representatives of India, Brazil, Ecuador, Indonesia, Cuba, Nepal, Zimbabwe, the United 
States, Saudi Arabia, and the Dominican Republic took the floor under this agenda item. The 
statements will be reproduced in an addendum to the present record. 14.4.  The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its next 
meeting. 15  OTHER BUSINESS 15.1  Invitations to ad hoc observers 15.1.  The Chairman recalled that, at its meetings held in June 2010 and November 2012, the 
Council had agreed to grant ad hoc observer status on a meeting-to-meeting basis to the African 
Regional Intellectual Property Organization, the African Intellectual Property Organization, the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf, and the European Free Trade Association. He 
suggested that the Council again invite these organizations to attend the Council's next formal 
meeting on an ad hoc basis. 
15.2.  The Council so agreed. 
15.2  Eleventh Annual Review under Paragraph 2 of the Decision on the 
"Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement" 
15.3.  The Chairman recalled that paragraph 1 of the decision on the "Implementation of 
Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement" provided that developed country Members shall submit 
annual reports on actions taken or planned in pursuance of their commitments under Article 66.2. 
To that end, they were to provide new detailed reports every third year and, in the intervening 
years, updates to their most recent reports. Thos e reports were to be submitted prior to the last 
Council meeting scheduled for the year in question. Paragraph 3 of the decision determined the 
information to be provided in those reports. 
15.4.  The first, second and third sets of detailed annual reports under the decision had been 
presented to the Council's end-of-year meetings in 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012, and updates to 
the Council's meetings in the intervening years.  Therefore, for 2013 developed country Members 
should submit a first set of updates to the fourth set of new detailed reports on actions taken or planned in pursuance of their commitments under Article 66.2 submitted last year. Those updates 
should be provided prior to the Council's end- of-year meeting scheduled for 10-11 October. As 
provided in paragraph 2 of the Decision, the Council  was required to review those updates at that 
meeting. 
15.5.  Accordingly, he suggested that developed country Members be requested to provide new 
detailed reports on actions they had taken or planned in pursuance of their commitments under Article 66.2 by 18 September, i.e. about three weeks before the meeting, in order to allow their 
timely circulation and review at the Council's meeting in October. 
15.6.  The Council so agreed. 
15.7.  The Chairman said that, as requested by th e Council at its March meeting, in preparation for 
the annual review he intended to hold consultations with delegations on the request by Haiti on 
behalf of the LDC Group that the Council adopt the proposed format for reports to be submitted by 
developed country Members under Article 66.2 contained in a communication by Angola on behalf of the LDC Group in document IP/C/W/561. 
15.8.  He recalled that, in view of the on-going implementation of the recommendations for 
savings and more efficient use of resources made by the Budget Committee
5, at its meeting in 
                                               
5 Document WT/BFA/128.  IP/C/M/73 
 
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  June 2012, the Council had invited the Secretariat to identify ways of facilitating the submission, 
processing and circulation of this information, and to consult with delegations at a technical level. He invited the Secretariat to provide an update on its work to develop an information management t o o l  f o r  t h i s  p u r p o s e ,  a n d  t o  i n f o r m  t h e  C o u n c i l  o f  a  w o r k s h o p  t h a t  i t  w a s  p l a n n i n g  t o  h o l d  o n 
transfer of technology. 
15.9.  The representatives of the Secretariat an d Nepal took the floor under this sub-item. The 
statements will be reproduced in an addendum to the present record. 
15.3  Other reviews 
15.10.  The Chairman said that, as had already been discussed under a previous agenda item, the 
Council would hold its annual review on technical cooperation under Article 67 at its October 
meeting. The Council would also have on its agenda the annual review of the functioning of the 
Paragraph 6 System. In preparation for that review, he encouraged delegations to share either 
directly with him or through the Secretariat any thoughts or suggestions they might have concerning the arrangements for that review. If needed, he would be available to consult with 
interested delegations on the preparations of the review.  
15.4  Proposal for an EU Directive on Tobacco Products  15.11.  The Chairman said that the delegations of  Nicaragua and Cuba wished to make statements 
under "Other Business" concerning a proposal for an EU directive on tobacco products. 
15.12.  The representatives of Nicaragua, the Do minican Republic, Honduras, Cuba, the European 
Union, Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand took the floor under this sub-item. The statements 
will be reproduced in an addendum to the present document. 
__________