RESTRICTED  
  
IP/C/M/ 87 
 
2 November  2017 
(17-5941) Page: 1/8 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights  
  
 
 
MINUTES OF MEETING  
HELD IN THE CENTRE W ILLIAM RAPPARD ON 19-20 OCTOBER  2017 
Chairperson: Ms Irene Young  (Hong Kong, China ) 
The present document contains the record of the Council for TRIPS meeting held on 19-20 October  
2017. The statements made during the meeting will be circulated in an addendum to the present 
document.  
Table of Contents  
1   NOTIFICATIONS UNDER PROVISIONS OF THE AG REEMENT  ................................ ........  2 
2   REVIEW OF NATIONAL I MPLEMENTING LEGISLAT ION ................................ ................  3 
3   REVIEW OF THE PROVIS IONS OF ARTICLE 27.3 (B) ................................ .....................  3 
4   RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN  THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION O N 
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY  ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 3 
5   PROTECTION OF TRADIT IONAL KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE  ................................ ..... 3 
6   ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE  SPECIAL COMPULSORY L ICENSING SYSTEM 
(PARAGRAPH  7 OF THE ANNEX TO TH E AMENDED TRIPS AGRE EMENT AND 
PARAGRAPH 8 OF THE  DECISION ON THE IMPL EMENTATION OF PARAGR APH 6 
OF THE DOHA DECLARAT ION ON THE TRIPS AGR EEMENT AND PUBLIC HE ALTH)  .............  3 
7   NON-VIOLATION AND SITUAT ION COMPLAINTS  ................................ .........................  4 
8   REVIEW OF THE IM PLEMENTATION OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT UNDE R 
ARTICLE 71.1  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  5 
9   REVIEW OF THE APPLIC ATION OF THE PROVISI ONS OF THE SECTION O N 
GEOGRA PHICAL INDICATIONS U NDER ARTICLE 24.2  ................................ ......................  5 
10   FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REV IEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE DECISION ON  
THE IMPLEMENTATION O F ARTICLE 66.2 OF THE TR IPS AGREEMENT  ..............................  5 
11   TECHNICAL COOPERATIO N AND CAPACITY BUILD ING ................................ ..............  6 
12   INTELLECTUAL PROPERT Y AND INNOVATION: IN CLUSIVE INNOVATION 
AND MSME GROWTH  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  7 
13   INTELLECTUAL PROPERT Y AND THE PUBLIC INT EREST: FOLLOW -UP 
DISCUSSION ON COMPUL SORY LICENSING  ................................ ................................ ..... 7 
14   INFORMATION ON RELEV ANT DEVELOPMENTS ELS EWHERE IN THE WTO  .................  7 
15   OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERG OVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  8 
16   ANNUAL REPORT  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 8 
17   OTHER  BUSINESS  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 8 IP/C/M/8 7 
 
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  1  NOTIFICATIONS UNDER PROVISIONS OF THE AG REEMENT  
1.  The Chair person  invited the Secretariat to report on notifications that the Council had received 
since its meeting in June 2017.  
2.  The representative of the Secretariat  said that  the Council had received the following updates 
to earlier notifications of laws and regulations notified under Article 63.2 of the TRIPS Agreement:  
 Norway had notified an Act Relating to the Right to Employees' Inventions as amended in 
October 2015  (IP/N/1/NOR/P/9) ; 
 
 Chinese Taipei had notified consolidated versions of the Copyright Act as amended in 
November 2016  (IP/N/1/TPKM/C/12); the Patent Act as amended in January  2017 
(IP/N/1/TPKM/P/8);  the Enforcement Rules of the  Patent Act as amended in April  2017 
(IP/N/1/TPKM/P/9);  the Trademark Act as amended in November  2016 (IP/N/1/TPKM/ T/7); 
and the Enforcement Rules of the Tr ademark Act as amended in March  2017 
(IP/N/1/TPKM/T/8);  and 
 
 China had notified revised Regulations  for the Implementation of the Copyright Law  
(IP/N/1/CHN/C/4);  on the Protection of New Plant  Varieties  (IP/N/1/CHN/P/4);  and on 
Computer Software Protection  (IP/N/1/CHN/C/5 ), all adopted in January 2013.  
 
3.  In addition, Gabon ha d notified its responses to the Checklist of Issues on Enforcement  
(IP/N/6/GAB/1).  No other initial responses or updates to the earlier responses had been submitted 
since the Council's meeting in June.  
4.  Liberia ha d submitted information  regarding its contact points under Article 69 of 
the Agreement for the exchange of information and cooperation on trade in infringing  goods  
(IP/N/3/LBR/1) . The information on the Members' transparency toolkit page ha d been updated 
accordingly.  
5.  The Chairperson invited delegations that had notified a new or revised legislative measure, or 
given responses or updates to the enforcement checklist, to briefly introduce the changes.  
6.  The representatives of the Norway , Chinese Taipei  and China  took the floor.  
7.  The Chairperson  drew Members' attention to document IP/C/W/636, which contained 
the questions that India had posed to the European Union  concerning a recent "Commission notice 
on the customs enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights conce rning goods brought into 
the customs authority of the Un ion without being released for free circulation including goods in 
Transit ".1 
8.  The representative s of India, the European Union  and Brazil  took the floor.  
9.  The Chairperson  invited the Secretariat to provide an update on the development of  e-TRIPS , 
an online platform for filing and consulting notifications  and other Council documentation.  
10.  The representative of the Secretariat  briefed Members on the development of e -TRIPS.  
11.  The Chairperson  noted that, in many cases, notifications to the Council were not keeping up 
with the actual development of laws and regulations relating to the TRIPS Agreement. She recalled 
that Article 63.2 was not a one -off requirement, but obliged  Membe rs to notify any new or 
amended laws. She, t herefore, urged Members to keep up to date their notifications by notifying 
any new or revised laws or regulations, as well as complete their initial notifications , in case any 
material was still outstanding. The same applied for the Checklist of Issues on Enforcement  
(IP/C/5) , which had been established by the Council as an element of Mem bers' notification 
obligations.  
                                                
1 The notice has been published in: http://eur -lex.europa.eu/legal -
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:C:2016:244:FULL&from=EN   
 IP/C/M/8 7 
 
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  12.  The Council took note  of the notific ations and the statements made.  
2  REVIEW  OF NATIONAL IMPLEMEN TING LEGISLATION  
13.  The Chairperson  recalled that the reviews of all developed and developing country Members  
had been completed , including newly acceded Members Seychelles and Kazakhstan  in March and 
June 2017, respectively . There we re no pending reviews.  
14.  The Council took note  of the information provided and agreed  to keep this item on  the agenda  
and take up any future reviews in due course . 
3  REVIEW OF THE PROVIS IONS OF ARTICLE 27.3 (B) 
4  RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN  THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION O N 
BIOLOGICAL  DIVERSITY  
5  PROTECTION OF TRADIT IONAL KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE  
15.  The Chair person  said that, as foreshadowed at  the Council's meeting in June, she had 
consulted Members to see if solutions could be found to some procedural issues , which had been 
discussed at tha t meeting . While those discussions had  helped clarify certain issues, she was  still 
not in a position to report any new development in delegations' positions.  
16.  Regarding agenda item 3, she noted  that the Council had not been provided information  on 
important developments that many WTO Members had seen in this area over the last decade. 
In particular,  there had been no response s or update s, since 2003 , to the Illustrative List of 
Questions on Article 27.3(b)  (IP/C/W/122) , and only 25 Members had  responded at all. Likewise, 
there had  been no notification s of domestic mechanisms to protect genetic resources and 
traditional kno wledge. She encourage d Members  to submit responses to the Checklist or update 
their respective  previous responses , and notify any releva nt changes in their legislation.  
17.  The representatives of China ; South Africa ; Ecuador ; Brazil ; the Plurinational State of Bolivia ; 
Haiti on behalf of the LDC Group ; the United States ; Japan ; the European Union ; Canada ; 
Australia ; Switzerland ; India; and the Republic of Korea  took the floor.  
18.  The Chairperson  encouraged Members to have further discussions  to resolve the outstanding 
issues, and said that she stood ready to assist .  
19.  The C ouncil took note of the statements made and agree d to revert to the matters at its next 
meeting.  
6  ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE  SPECIAL COMPULSORY L ICENSING SYSTEM (PAR AGRAPH  7 
OF THE ANNEX TO THE AMENDED TRIPS AGREEM ENT AND PARAGRAPH 8 OF 
THE DECISION ON THE IMPL EMENTATION OF PARAGR APH 6 OF THE DOHA 
DECLARATION ON  THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH)  
20.  The Chairperson  said that paragraph 7 of the Annex to the amended TRIPS Agreement and 
paragraph 8 of the 2003 Waiver Decision required the Council to review the functioning of 
the special compulsory licensing system (the "System") annually, with a view to ensuring its 
effective operation. The Council was also required to report annually on the System's operation to 
the General Council. In the case of the  Waiver Decision, the review was also deemed to have 
fulfilled th e requirements of Article  IX:4 of the WTO Agreement.  
21.  She invited Members to exchange views on the functioning of the System. Two documents 
could serve as background for the discussion: (i) the TRIPS Council's report on its annual review in 
2016 (IP/C/76); and (ii) the Secretariat's 2016 report on its technical cooperation in the TRIPS 
area (IP/C/W/618). Annex II of the latter document summarized the discussions on the practical 
use of the Paragraph 6 System.  
22.  Turning to the Council's report to the General Co uncil, the Chairperson noted that a  draft 
cover note, modelled on previous reports, had been prepared by the Secretariat (JOB/IP/27). IP/C/M/8 7 
 
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  It contained factual information on the implementation and use of the System. The  draft would 
need to be updated to reflec t the recent acceptance of the Protocol by the Russian Federation. 
The minutes of the discussion under this agenda would also have to be attached as Annex 1 and 
Appendix 1.  
23.  Additionally, the Council would need to decide on Annex 2, which referred to the Pr otocol 
Amending the TRIPS Agreement. She recalled that the Protocol was currently open for acceptance 
by Members until 31 December 2017. There were 46 Members that had not yet accepted 
the Protocol. As it was unlikely that all of them would do so before th e end of 2017, the Council 
needed to consider the way forward. Previous consultations had indicated that most Members 
would like to see a further extension of the period for acceptance. A draft decision to that effect, 
for adoption by the General Council, had been included as Annex 2 to the draft report. The draft 
decision did not yet contain a deadline. At a recent informal meeting of the TRIPS Council, one 
delegation had raised the possibility of an indefinite extension. However, most delegations had 
preferred a fixed deadline, either a two year or a four year extension. She suggested focusing 
the discussion on these two options and that the Council decide on the one with greater support.  
24.  The representatives of India; the United States ; Barbados ; the Europ ean Union ; Haiti on 
behalf of the LDC Group ; Brazil ; Canada ; South Africa ; Switzerland ; Japan ; Thailand ; the Republic 
of Korea ; the Russian Federation ; Australia ; China ; Costa Rica ; and Nigeria on behalf of the 
African Group  took the floor.  
25.  The Council took note  of the statements made.  
26.  The Chairperson  proposed that the Council agree on forwarding to the General Council 
the proposal for a decision to extend the period for acceptance by Members of the Protocol 
Amending the TRIPS Agreement until 31 December 20 19. The last paragraph of the draft decision 
by the General Council contained in Annex 2 to the draft report should be complemented by 
inserting this date. She also proposed that the Council agree on the cover note to the report 
contained in JOB/IP/27, wit h updates concerning an instrument of acceptance that had been 
deposited since the circulation  of the draft cover note, and also that the Council minutes containing 
the record of the discussion be attached to it as Annex 1 and Appendix 1.  
27.  The Council so agreed . 
7  NON-VIOLATION AND SITUAT ION COMPLAINTS  
28.  The Chairperson  recall ed that,  at the Tenth Session of the  Ministerial Conference  (MC10)  in 
December 2015 , Ministers had directed the Council to continue its examination of the scope and 
modalities  for complai nts of the types provided for in Article XXIII 1(b) and 1(c) of  the GATT 1994 , 
and to make recommendations to the eleventh Ministerial Conference  (MC11) , scheduled to take 
place in December  2017. The Council had discussed this matter at each of its regular  meetings  
since MC10.  However, the di scussions had  not focused on the scope and mo dalities. Instead, 
Members had been debating whether or not non -violation and situation  complaints should apply to 
the TRIPS Agreement at al l. In that regard, views continued  to be polari zed. 
29.  Since the Council's meeting in June  2017, she had  consulted with delegations in various 
formats, including at the  informal meeting  that had taken place on  16 October 2017 , to see if the 
Council could come up with a recommendation.  Most delegations that had shared their views had 
said that they did not think non -violation complaints should apply to the TRIPS Agreement. 
They had been , however, willing to compromise by agreeing to recommend an extension of 
the moratorium . At the same time, at least two delegations had said that they would like to see 
the current moratorium expire. They were of the view that non -violation and situation  complaints 
would then apply to the TRIPS Agreement, and that the guidance contained in the DSU would b e 
sufficient in handling disputes arising from the application.  
30.  Although no Member had submitted a textual proposal on the recommendation, during her 
earlier consultations one delegation had suggested that she make available a text showing what 
the Council 's recommendation to MC11 would look like if it was to be , modelled on the MC10 
decision  (WT/L/976) . At the Council's informal meeting of 16 October 2017 , Members had agreed 
that such a text could also be used as the basis f or further discussion at the Cou ncil's present IP/C/M/8 7 
 
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  meeting, on the understanding that it was meant only to facilitate discussion and was without 
prejudi ce to Members' positions. Accordingly, the  text had been made available as  an info rmal 
room document.  
31.  The representatives  of Nigeria on behalf of the African Group ; Thailand , China ; the United 
States ; the Plurinational State of Bolivia ; South Africa ; Brazil ; Costa Rica ; Switzerland ; Australia ;  
Chile; Canada ; Ecuador ; Japan ; Argentina ; the Republic of Korea ; the Russian Federation ; 
the European Union ; India; New Zealand ; Chinese Taipei ; and Paraguay  took the floor.  
32.  The Chairperson  said that it was clear that the Council was not yet ready to agree on 
a recommendation. She suggested that the Council keep the agenda item open, while she 
continue s to consult with Members. Once there was an indication that Members were in a position 
to reach consensus, she would reconvene the Council at short notice, so that a recommendation 
could be made t hrough  the General Council to the Ministerial Confe rence, in a timely manner.  
33.  The Council so agreed . 
34.  In closing, the Chairperson  noted that the last General Council meeting before MC11 was 
scheduled to take place from 30 November to 1 December. Therefore, the Council's 
recommendation, which could be includ ed in the TRIPS Council's Annual Report or its addendum, 
would need to be submitted to the General Council by 17 November. She requested Members to 
be mindful of the timeline.  
8  REVIEW OF THE IMPLEM ENTATION OF THE TRIP S AGREEMENT UNDER AR TICLE 71.1  
35.  The Chairperson  invited Members , who wished to provide comments or suggest any topics to 
be taken under this agenda item . 
36.  The Council agree d to revert to the matter at its next meeting.  
9  REVIEW OF THE APPLIC ATION OF THE PROVISI ONS OF THE SECTION O N 
GEOGRAPHICAL IND ICATIONS UNDER ARTIC LE 24.2  
37.  The Chairperson  said Article 24.2 of the TRIPS Agreement required the Council to keep under 
review the application of the TRIPS provisions on geogra phical indications  ("GIs") . The principal  
tool for the review was  the Checklist of Questio ns (document IP/C/13 and Add.1). Switzerland had  
updated its responses to the Checklist  (IP/C/W/117/Add.13/Rev.1 ), which  it had initially provided  
in 1999 . 
38.  The representative of Switzerland  took the floor.  
39.  The Chairperson  noted that , of the 164 Members, fewer than 50 had responded to 
the Checklist. She encourage d Members to submit their responses  or update their earlier 
responses to reflect important developments. In line with the Council's recommendation made in 
March 201 0, she also invited Members to share information on bilateral agreements related to 
the protection of GIs they were  party to. Since the protection  of GIs was an active area of legal 
and poli cy development in some Members,  as well as in a number of free trade agreement s, 
further responses to the Checklist and information on bilateral agreements would facilitate 
the Council's conduct of this review.  
40.  The Council  took note  of the statement made and  agreed  to revert to the matt er at its next 
meeting.  
10  FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REV IEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE DECISION ON  
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AR TICLE 66.2 OF THE TR IPS AGREEMENT  
41.  The Chairperson  recalled that, as provided for in the Council's Decision on the Implementation 
of Article  66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement (IP/C/28) , developed country Members were to submit 
annual reports on actions taken or planned in pursuance of their commitments under Article 66.2. 
They were required to provide  new detailed reports every third year and up dates in the  intervening 
years.  IP/C/M/8 7 
 
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  42.  The fifth set of detailed annual reports under this procedure had been presented to 
the Council in October 2015. Last June, the Council had requested developed country Members to 
update their annual reports in time for the present meeti ng, and the Secretariat ha d since 
circulated a reminder.  
43.  The Council had received updates to the annual reports from Japan, Australia, the United 
States, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland  (IP/C/W/631 and addenda ). The report 
from the European U nion and some of its individual member States , namely Austria, the Czech 
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom had been 
received shortly before the meeting and was being circulated as an addendum to document 
IP/C/W/631 . 
44.  Paragraph 2 of the Council's Decision on the Implementation of Article 66.2 explained that 
the annual review sh all provide Members with an opportunity to pose questions in relation to 
the information submitted and request additional information ; discuss the effectiveness of 
the incentives provided in promoting and encouraging technology transfer to least developed 
country Members in order to enable them to create  a sound and viable technological base; and 
consider any points relating to the oper ation of the reporting procedure established by 
the Decision.  
45.  The Chairperson said that, since s ome of the information had been received only very 
recently, and most of it was, so far, available only in its original language , she intended to give 
Members a further opportunity to comment on this information at the Council's next meeting.  
46.  At the request of LDC Members, the Secretariat had organized annual workshops on transfer 
of technology under Article 66.2 back -to-back to with the Council's end -of-year me eting. The 2017 
workshop had been held the previous afternoon. She thanked the Secretariat for organizing it and 
the delegations involved for th eir constructive contributions.  
47.  The representative s of Norway ; the European Union ; Australia ; the United States ; Japan ; 
New Zealand ; Canada ; Brazil ; Cambodia on behalf of the LDC Group , and Haiti took the floor . 
48.  The Council took note  of the statement s made and agreed  to revert to the matter at its next 
meeting . 
11  TECHNICAL COOPERATIO N AND CAPACITY BUILD ING 
49.  The Chairperson  recalled that , at its meeting in  June, the Council  had agreed to hold 
the annual review of technical cooperation at the present  meeting. Developed country Members 
had been  requested to update information on their technical and financial coopera tion activities 
relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreem ent. Other Members who also provided  
technical cooperation were encouraged to share information on these activities. The Secretariat 
had issued an airgram , on 4 July 2017 , reminding Members of this request. Intergovernmental 
organizations , which were observers to the Council , and the WTO Secretariat had  also been invited 
to provide information.  
50.  The Council had  received information from: Japan, Australia, the United States, Canada, New 
Zealand , Switzerlan d and Norway ( IP/C/W/632 and  its addenda ). The report from the European 
Union and some of its individual member States and agencies, namely Croatia, the Czech Republic, 
Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden  and the United 
Kingdom, as well as the Commun ity Plant Variety Office  had been received shortly before 
the meeting and was being circulated as an addendum to document IP/C/W/632.  
51.  The following inte rgovernmental organizations had also  submitted updated information: 
the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO);  the United Nations Conference on Trade and 
Development (UNCTAD) , the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) , the World Health 
Organiza tion (WHO), the  Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf  (GCC), the African 
Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), and the W orld Customs Organization (WCO)  
(IP/C/W/6 33 and addenda) . Updated information on the WTO Secretariat's own technical 
cooperation activities in the TRIPS area was available  in document IP/C/W/634.  IP/C/M/8 7 
 
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  52.  The Chairperson  said that, since some of the information had been  received only very 
recently, and most of it was , so far, available only in its original language , she intended to provide 
Members a furth er opportunity to comment on the information at the Council's next meeting.  
53.  The representatives of Australia ; the United States ; Norway ; the European Union ; Canada ; 
Japan ; New Zealand,  the WTO Secretariat , ARIPO , the GCC, the WHO, UNCTAD , India, Brazil , and 
China  took the floor.  
54.  The Chairperson  said that the reports by Members and IGO observers provided valuable 
information about specific activities, as well as the broader policy considerations that were guiding 
capacity building activities of individual  Members and Observers. She encouraged Members to 
make good use of this resource.  
55.  The Council took note  of the statements made and agreed  to revert to the matter at its next 
meeting.  
12  INTELLECTUAL PROPERT Y AND INNOVATION: IN CLUSIVE INNOVATION A ND MSME 
GROWT H 
56.  The Chairperson  said that this item had been put on the agenda at the written request of 
some Members . Australia, the European Union, Japan, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei and the United 
States  had also submitted a communication  entitled "Inclusive Innovation and Micro, Small and 
Medium Enterprises (MSME) Trade"  (IP/C/W/635 ) to facilitate discussion.  Although this was 
an additional agenda item, the subject of IP and innovation itself was not new to the Council, and 
this year the focus had been on MSM Es (micro, small and medium -sized enterprises).  
57.  The representatives of  Switzerland ; the Republic of Korea ; Japan ; the European Union ; 
Australia ; the United States ; Chinese Taipei ; Canada ; Chile; Costa Rica ; Brazil ; India; 
South  Africa ; and China  took the floor.  
58.  The Council took note of the statements made.  
13  INTELLECTUAL PROPERT Y AND THE PUBLIC INT EREST: FOLLOW -UP DISCUSSION ON 
COMPULSORY LICENSING  
59.  The Chairperson  said that this item had been put on the agenda at the written request of 
Brazil , Chin a, India and South Africa. She recalled that, at the Council's meeting in June, 
the delegations of Brazil, China, Fiji, India and South Africa had  introduced a document entitled 
"Intellectual Property and Public Interest"  (IP/C/W/630).  As the title of the present agenda item 
suggested, delegations were invited to follow up the discussion  at the Council's meeting in June . 
60.  The representative s of South Africa ; Brazil ; India; China ; the European Union ; the United 
States ; Japan ; and the Holy See took the floor.  
61.  The Council took note  of the statements made.  
14  INFORMATION ON RELEV ANT DEVELOPMENTS ELS EWHERE IN THE WTO  
62.  The Chairperson  said that, by means of three communications dated 31 J uly 2017, the State 
of Qatar had  requested consultations with the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and 
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding the issue "Measures Relating to Trade in Goods and 
Services, and Trade -Related Aspects of In tellectual Property Rights". Those three r equests had  
been circulated in documents IP/D/35, IP/D/ 36 and IP/D/ 37, respectively.2  
63.  The Chairperson  invited  the Secretariat to provide an update on  IP-related issues that had 
been considered in the context of individua l Members' trade policy reviews .  
64.  The representative of the  Secretariat  took the floor . 
                                                
2 Also circulated with  document symbols WT/DS526, WT/DS 527 and WT/DS 528. IP/C/M/8 7 
 
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  65.  The Council took note of the statement made.  
15  OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERG OVERNMENTAL ORGANI ZATIONS  
66.  The Chairperson  recalled  that there were 13 pending requests by intergovernmental 
organizations for observer status in the Council  for TRIPS .3 At previous meetings, a number of 
delegations  had reiterated their support for granting regular  observer sta tus to the South Centre, 
the Secretariat  of the Convention on Biol ogical Diversity  (CBD) and the International Vaccine 
Institute. Other delegations had signalled that they could agree to grant regular  observer status to 
the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization  (ARIPO) , the African Intellectual Property 
Organization  (OAPI) , the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) , and 
the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) . These four organisations currently enjoy ed an ad hoc  
observer status , granted  on a meeting -to-meeting basis.  
67.  She urged Membe rs to consider the requests on their individual merits, in particular with 
regard to the competence and interest that the requesting entity ha d in matters dealt with by 
the TRIPS Council.  
68.  The representatives  of Brazil ; South Africa ; India; China ; Ecuador ; Bolivarian Republic of  
Venezuela ; the United States ; and the  European Union  took the floor.  
69.  The Chairperson  thanked Members for their flexibility . She noted that the Council had reached 
consensus regarding the requests from ARIPO and OAPI . In light of the  discussion, s he proposed  
that t he Council grant regular  observer status to ARIPO and OAPI.   
70.  The Council took note  of the statements made and so agreed . 
71.  Regarding the pending requests, the Chairperson  encourage d Members to try to resolve the ir 
differences amongst themselves , and offered her assistance.  She proposed that, since it had not 
been possible to reach an agreement to grant regular  observer status to the GCC and EFTA, 
the Council should again invite these two  organizations  to attend its next meeting  on an ad hoc  
basis. This would be in line with the agreement reached at the Council's meeting in November 
2012 on granting  ad hoc  observer status to these organizations on a meeting -by-meeting basis.  
72.  The Council  so agreed .  
16  ANNUAL REPORT  
73.  The Chairperson  said that the draft Annual Report of the Council had been circulated in 
document JOB/IP/26. It still needed to be updated so as to reflect the discussions at the present 
meeting. Since there were no comments from Members, s he suggested that the Secretariat  update 
the draft accordingly. The revised draft would then be faxed to Members, who would have one 
week to comment on the updated parts of the draft report .  
74.  The Council so agreed . 
17  OTHER BUSINESS  
75.  The Chairperson  said that, having coordinated with WIPO, th e WTO Secretariat had reserved  
the following dates for the Council 's meetings in 2018: Tuesday  and Wednesday, 27 -28 February; 
Tuesd ay and Wednesday, 5 -6 June; and, Thursday and Friday, 8 -9 November.  
76.  The Council agreed  on the dates.  
__________  
                                                
3 An up -to-date list can be found in document IP/C/W/52/Rev.13.  Information provided by all 
13 intergovernmental organizations is available on the Members' website.