108. The representative of the Philippines said that his country had faced the problem of unfair and inequitable exploitation of biological and genetic resources or traditional knowledge. Therefore, he fully supported the disclosure proposal as a solid and reasonable basis for genuine collective engagement which provided a multilateral and effective solution to the problem of biopiracy, especially with respect to the legal effects of non-compliance. He said that this issue had a vital linkage to the development dimension of the Doha Round. The discussion in the Council had touched on the imbalance in the TRIPS Agreement and the unfair exploitation and misappropriation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge. Its far-reaching implications for developing countries were demonstrated by the support of the many developing Members, including the African Group, the LDC Group, and the ACP Group. While fully supporting the disclosure proposal as a basis for finding an agreement acceptable to all Members, he reiterated his delegation's concern over the parallelism between the TRIPS/CBD issue and the other two TRIPS issues.
