61. The representative of Brazil said that the proposal in document IP/C/W/420 would help the Council to have a structured debate and was not meant to exclude or impede a consideration of any other proposals Members wished to raise. With regard to the Council's mandate to address the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the CBD, he said that any attempt or suggestion that work on this issue not be pursued in the Council but in other forums seemed to be inconsistent with the mandate and instruction given to the Council by the Ministers of Doha. Responding to the argument that the Council did not have the expertise to address this issue and that other forums, especially the WIPO IGC, had the required expertise, he said that the Council had a considerable amount of expertise in terms of the delegations and the Secretariat. He further said that the pertinent paragraphs of the Doha Ministerial Declaration referred to the need to take into account the development dimension of these issues, which was very important and not found in the mandates contained in other forums.
62. He expected discussions on the proposal contained in document IP/C/W/420 to take place in due course in accordance with the instruction given by Ministers. He agreed with certain other delegations regarding the need to address these issues with an open mind and in a non-dogmatic manner, which had driven his delegation to identify the issues as included in the checklist. He pointed out that although the checklist indicated several important technical points that would have to be addressed in the course of debate, it was a non-exhaustive list and that Members were free to raise any other points. He further said that the WIPO General Assembly had adopted a resolution on the extension of the mandate of the IGC in September 2003, which acknowledged that WIPO did not have an exclusive mandate to address these issues. A set of decisions recently adopted by the COP of the CBD invited all relevant international organizations to address the issue of disclosure, which should include the TRIPS Council. In conclusion, he hoped that the TRIPS Council could agree on the proposal contained in document IP/C/W/420, and have a focused and structured discussion on these issues.
