197. The representative of Brazil said that, at its recent meeting, the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) had adopted a groundbreaking decision to invite the secretariats of certain multilateral agreements to participate on an ad hoc basis in the work it was pursuing under the Doha Ministerial Declaration. He believed that this decision had set an important precedent and that it was an example that could be followed in other bodies that were currently undertaking work pursuant to the Doha Ministerial Declaration in the context of the Doha Development Round. The TRIPS Council had a clear mandate under paragraph 19 to deal with the issue of the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). It was therefore of utmost importance that the Council grant observer status to the CBD Secretariat to enable it to participate in the Council's work. Given the precedent-setting decision by the CTE, the Council should agree on a similar ad hoc arrangement to grant observer status to the CBD Secretariat.
