230. The representative of Brazil commended the European Communities and their member States for their support, as contained in their communication, to grant observer status to the CBD in the TRIPS Council. He recalled that Brazil and other developing countries, including China, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe had circulated a proposal on the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the CBD in document IP/C/W/356 on 24 June 2002. He noted that many Members believed that the TRIPS Agreement and the CBD should be mutually supportive. In that respect, his delegation believed that the TRIPS Agreement should be amended to require, as a condition for acquiring patent rights, that an applicant for a patent relating to biological material or to traditional knowledge, disclose the source or country of origin of biological resource and traditional knowledge used in the invention, provide evidence of prior informed consent through approval of authorities under the relevant national regime and evidence of fair and equitable benefit sharing under the national regime of the country of origin.
231. As regards the Council's report to the TNC on this subject, he suggested that it would be appropriate for the Council to signal that the Council had undertaken to find a proper solution to the implementation issues and had agreed that negotiation on the outstanding implementation issues should be an integral part of the Council's work programme. Furthermore, the Council could, based on paragraph 12(b) of the Declaration, request the TNC to determine the appropriate action that could be taken on these issues. He said that his delegation would draft an appropriate reference to its proposal that could be included in the report to the TNC in due course.
