WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
IP/C/59 
7 November 2011  
 
(11-5689) 
  
  
 
ANNUAL REPORT (2011) OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRIPS 
 
 
I. GENERAL 
1. Since the period covered by its 2010 report
1, the Council for TRIPS has held three formal 
meetings, on 1 March, 7 J une, and 24-24 October.  The minutes of these meetings are to be found in 
documents IP/C/M/65, IP/C/M/65/ Corr.1, IP/C/M/66 and IP/C/M/67.2 
2. The meeting in March was chaired by Mr . Martin Glass (Hong Kong, China) and the 
subsequent meetings by Ambassador Federico A. González (Paraguay). 
3. The meetings of the Council were open to all WTO Members, other governments with 
observer status in WTO bodies and certain interna tional intergovernmental organizations granted 
observer status in the Council.  The Food and Ag riculture Organization (FAO), the International 
Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Union for th e Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), 
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and De velopment (OECD), the United Nations (UN), the 
United Nations Conference on Trade and De velopment (UNCTAD), the World Bank, 
the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) 
enjoy regular observer status in the Council for TRIPS.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has 
ad hoc observer status in the Council.  At its mee ting in March 2002, the Council agreed to a request 
from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AI DS (UNAIDS) for observer status during the 
Council's discussions on the TRIPS Ag reement and public health at that  and future meetings.  At its 
meeting in June 2010, the Council agreed to gran t ad hoc observer status on a meeting-by-meeting 
basis to the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and the African Intellectual 
Property Organization (OAPI).  Pursuant to this, ARIPO and OAPI were invited to attend each formal 
meeting on an ad hoc basis.  Decisions on requests for observer status from 15 other organizations are 
pending.3 
II. NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE PROV ISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT 
4. The Council took note of new notifications under various provisions of the 
TRIPS Agreement.  To date, 128 Memb ers have notified, pursuant to Artic le 63.2, all or part of their 
implementing legislation relating to all provisions of the Agreement.  One hundred Members have 
provided responses to the Checklist of Issues on En forcement.  During the reporting period, some 
Members have updated their earlier notifications of laws and regulations.  To  date, 130 Members have 
notified pursuant to Article 69 contact points for the purposes of cooperating with each other with a 
view to eliminating international trade in goods infringing intellectual property rights.  A number of 
Members have updated the information they had earlier provided. 
                                                      
1 Document IP/C/56. 
2 Document IP/C/M/67, to be circulated. 
3 The organizations in question are listed in document IP/C/W/52/Rev.12. IP/C/59 
Page 2  
 
  III. REVIEWS OF NATIONAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
5. At the Council's meeting in March, the Maldiv es informed the Council of its graduation from 
LDC status on 1 January 2011 and the state of play of its implementation of  TRIPS.  The Council 
agreed to come back to the arrangements for the review of the Maldives' implementing legislation 
later in 2011, once it had received the necessary notifications of la ws and regulations.  At its meeting 
in October, the Council agreed to review Maldives ' implementing legislation at its meeting scheduled 
for 5-6 June 2012.  The Council also took note of th e outstanding material required to complete the 
pending reviews of three other Members. 
IV. TRANSITIONAL REVIEW UNDER SECTION 18 OF THE PROTOCOL ON THE 
ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
6. At its October meeting, the Council undert ook the final transitional review of the 
implementation by China of its WTO commitments pursuant to Section 18 of the Protocol on the 
Accession of the People's Republic of China (WT/L/ 432), and agreed that the Chair, acting on his 
own responsibility, would prepare a factual report on the review to the General Council.
4 
V. 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 th at delegates address these three agenda items 
together, the Council continued to discuss them togeth er on the basis of contributions by Members.  
At the Council's meeting in March, in its capacity  as the host country of the tenth meeting of the 
Conference of the Parties to the CBD held in  Nagoya, Japan in October 2010, Japan made a 
presentation on the "Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable 
Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity" that was 
adopted at that meeting on 29 October 2010.  The C ouncil requested the Chair to continue consulting 
on the earlier suggestion that the CBD Secretariat be  invited to brief the Council on the outcome of 
the Nagoya meeting, as well as on the suggestion that the WIPO Secretariat be invited to brief on the 
work of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intell ectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional 
Knowledge and Folklore.  At the C ouncil's meeting in October, the Chai r reported that, in light of his 
consultations, there was no longer a need for such a briefing by the WIPO Secretariat at the Council's 
meeting.  The Council requested him to continue  consulting on the sugges tion concerning the CBD 
Secretariat. 
8. At the Council's meeting in June, the Plurina tional State of Bolivia presented a paper entitled 
"Article 27.3(b) and the Legalization of Biopir acy:  Trends, Impacts and Why It Needs to Be 
Amended" (IP/C/W/554), which it had initially intr oduced at the Council's meeting in March. 
VI. NON-VIOLATION AND SITUATION COMPLAINTS 
9. The Council continued its consideration of this  item.  At its meeting in June, the Chair 
indicated that it was his intention to hold consultati ons in various formats on the matter prior to the 
Council's October meeting with a view to enabli ng the Council to agree on its recommendation to the 
Ministerial Conference at that meeting.  At its m eeting in October, the Council agreed to keep open 
this agenda item and that the Chair continue his co nsultations on the matter.  The Chair said that he 
hoped to be able to reconvene the Council once the fu rther work was sufficiently mature, with a view 
to the Council agreeing on a recommendation to the Ministerial Conference. 
                                                      
4 To be circulated in IP /C/ -series of documents.  IP/C/59 
 Page 3 
 
 
  VII. REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION OF  THE TRIPS AGREEMENT UNDER 
ARTICLE 71 
10. No statements were made or documents subm itted by delegations unde r this agenda item. 
VIII.  REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE SECTION ON 
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 24.2 
11. The Chair recalled that, at its meeting in Ma rch 2010, the Council had invited Members to 
share information on bilateral agr eements related to the protection of geographical indications into 
which they had entered.  He encouraged any Member  that was party to any such bilateral agreement 
and had not yet shared such information with th e Council to do so.  The Chair also invited those 
delegations that had not yet provi ded responses to the Checklist of Qu estions (IP/C/13 and Add.1) to 
do so, and said that those Members that had alread y provided responses could provide updates to the 
extent there had been any significant changes to the way they provided protection to geographical 
indications. 
IX. REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 8 OF THE DECISION ON THE 
IMPLEMENTATION OF PARAGRAPH 6 OF THE DOHA DECLARATION ON THE 
TRIPS AGREEMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH 
12. At its meeting in March, the Council followed up the annual review unde r paragraph 8 of the 
Decision on the Implementation of Paragraph 6 of th e Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and 
Public Health it had held at its meeting in Octobe r 2010.  In advance of the meeting, the Chair had 
faxed to Members a list of the issues that Members had identified at the Council's October 2010 meeting as requiring further discussion or informati on, so as to help delegations to prepare for the 
follow-up discussion.  The Council requested the Chair to consult on any further follow-up and on 
preparations of the next annual review. 
13. At the Council's meeting in June, the Ch air reported under "Other business" on his 
consultations on any further follow-up to the 2010 annual review and the preparations of the next 
annual review to be held at the Oc tober 2011 meeting.  He indicated that it was his intention to pursue 
further consultations on the preparations of the next annual review and the issue of a possible 
workshop. 
14. At its meeting in October, the Council took up the annual review, pursuant to paragraph 8 of 
the Decision, of the functioning of the system set out in the Decision.  The discussion was based on a 
list of topics and issues that the Chair had faxed to Members in advance of the meeting.  The Council 
requested the Chair to consult on  next steps, including the issu e of a possible workshop.  The 
Council's report to the General Council on the operation of the system set out in the Decision will be 
circulated in IP/C/- series of documents.  The Council agreed to forward to the General Council a 
proposal for a decision to extend the period of acceptance by Members of the Protocol until 
31 December 2013.
5 
15. As requested by the Council, the Secretaria t periodically updated the note on the status of 
acceptances of the Protocol Amending the TRIPS Agreement.6 
                                                      
5 Document IP/C/58. 
6 The latest version has been circulated as document IP/C/W/490/Rev.8. IP/C/59 
Page 4  
 
  X. IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 66.2 
16. At its meeting in March, the Council followe d up its eighth annual review pursuant to 
paragraph 2 of the "Decision on the Implementa tion of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement"
7 that it 
had taken up at its meeting in Oct ober 2010.  It received an additiona l update to the third set of new 
detailed reports from the European Union and indivi dual member States, namely Austria, Belgium, 
Finland, France, Germany, the Slovak Re public, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom 
(IP/C/W/551/Add.7). 
17. At its meeting in October 2011, the Council t ook up its ninth annual review of developed 
country Members' reports on their implementation of  Article 66.2.  For this review, the Council 
received the second set of updates to the third set of  new detailed reports on actions they had taken or 
planned in pursuance of their commitments under Article 66.2 from the following developed country 
Members:  Norway;  Japan;  New Zealand;  Australia;  Canada;  Switzerland;  the United States;  and the European Union and individual member States, namely Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.  This documentation is being 
circulated in document IP/C/W/558 and addenda.  In  addition, Angola presented on behalf of the LDC 
Group two new communications entitled "Proposed Fo rmat for Reports Submitted by the Developed 
Country Members under Article 66.2" (IP/C/W/561) and "Questions Posed by the LDC Group in the 
Context of the Ninth Annual Review under Paragr aph 2 of the Decision on the Implementation of 
Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement" (IP/C/W/562). 
XI. TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING 
18. Following up the annual review of technical c ooperation held at its meeting in October 2010, 
the Council received for its March meeting add itional information from the African Regional 
Intellectual Property Organization (IP/C/W/549/Add.6) .  For its June meeting, it received additional 
information from the European Union and individual  member States and agencies, namely Austria, 
Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, 
Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Patent Office (IP/C/W/550/Add.7). 
19. At its meeting in June, the Council invited de veloped 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 the October meeting.  In tergovernmental organizati ons that have observer 
status in the Council for TRIPS were invited to provide information on their activities of relevance 
and, further, the WTO Secretariat was instructed to report on its activities.  The Council received updated information from the following developed country Members:  Norway;  Japan;  New 
Zealand;  Australia;  Canada;  Switzerland;  the United States;  and the European Union and 
individual member States and agencies, namely Aust ria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, 
France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Patent Office (being circul ated in IP/C/W/560 and addenda).  Updated 
information was also received from WCO, WHO, UNCTAD and WIPO (being circulated in 
IP/C/W/559 and addenda), as well as from the WTO Secretariat (IP/C/W/557). 
20. The Council continued its discussion on LDC prio rity needs for technical and financial 
cooperation.  Pursuant to paragraph 2 of the d ecision on the "Extension of the Transition Period under 
Article 66.1 for Least-Developed Country Members", Senegal presented to the Council's June meeting 
information on its priority needs for technical and financial cooperation (IP/C/W/555).  The Chair 
urged those least developed country Members that ha d not yet provided information to the Council on 
their individual priority needs pursuant to paragraph 2 of the Decision to do so. 
 
                                                      
7 Document IP/C/28.  IP/C/59 
 Page 5 
 
 
  XII. OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS 
21. The Council continued its consideration of the pending requests for observer status from 
international intergovernmental orga nizations.  At its meeting in March, the Council agreed that the 
Chair consult on the issue of observer status for in ternational intergovernmental  organizations.  At its 
meeting in June, the Council requested the Secretaria t to contact the international intergovernmental 
organizations whose requests for observer status are pending to request up-to-date information, 
including on the nature of their work and the reaso ns for their interest in being accorded observer 
status.  For the Council's meeting in October, su ch information was received from the Conférence des 
Ministres de l'Agriculture de l'Afrique de l'Ou est et du Centre (CMA/AOC), the Cooperation Council 
of the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and the S outh Centre.  The Council requested that the Chair 
continue his consultations on the issue of obser ver status for international intergovernmental 
organizations. 
XIII.  LETTER FROM THE CHAIR OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL CONCERNING 
WAYS TO IMPROVE THE TIMELINESS AND COMPLETENESS OF 
NOTIFICATION AND OTHER INFORMATION FLOWS 
22. The Council continued its consideration of a le tter received in February 2009 from the Chair 
of the General Council requesting the Chair to consult with Members on ways to improve the 
timeliness and completeness of notifications and other information flows on trade measures falling 
within the Council's competence.  The Secretariat pr ovided information on furthe r enhancements to its 
services improving the transparency and user-friendliness of the notification system. 
XIV.  AUSTRALIA:  TOBACCO PLAIN PACKAGING BILL 2011 AND ITS 
COMPATIBILITY WITH THE TRIPS AGREEMENT 
23. At the request of the Dominican Republic, at  its meeting in June the Council had on its 
agenda an item on "Australia:  Tobacco Plain P ackaging Bill 2011 and Its Compatibility with the 
TRIPS Agreement.  At the request of Ukraine, at its meeting in October the Council had on its agenda 
an item on "Australia's Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill 2011". 
XV. ENFORCEMENT TRENDS 
24. At the request of Australia, Canada, the Eu ropean Union, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, 
Singapore, Switzerland and the United States, at its meeting in October the Council had on its agenda 
an item on "Enforcement Trends".8  It received a communication from Australia, Canada, the 
European Union, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States 
(IP/C/W/563). 
__________  
                                                      
8 This was originally put forward on the proposed agenda as "Enforcement of Intellectual Property 
Rights (Part III of th e TRIPS Agreement)".