5. The representative of Switzerland said that his delegation could agree to adopt the agenda only if it could first be clarified what the grounds were for removing some of the outstanding implementation issues from the Council's agenda while others still existed. He shared the concern expressed by Bulgaria. At the TNC's meeting in December 2002, Members had expressed their desire that all outstanding implementation issues be treated on an equal footing in the process of determining how to carry forward work on them. At the end of the TNC's meeting in February 2003, the TNC Chair had concluded that further work in the relevant bodies should be suspended for the time-being, pending the TNC's decision on how to proceed with them. However, there was no conclusion or agreement to the effect that certain implementation issues should be removed from the agendas of the relevant bodies while others would remain on the agendas. This would risk applying differential treatment to the various outstanding TRIPS implementation issues and prejudge the outcome of the on-going consultations at the TNC level.
