12. The Chair recalled that, at its last formal meeting, the Council had agreed to discuss the following three topics under this agenda item:
a. IP-related domestic measures taken by Members in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chair once again referred to the compilation "COVID-19: Measures Regarding Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights" on the WTO website which contained a non-exhaustive list of IP-related measures taken in the context of COVID-19, compiled by the Secretariat from official sources and verified by the Members concerned, although there had been no recent changes to the document. She encouraged Members to inform the Secretariat of any measures which should be included on the list, as well as any update or information on the expiry – or end of application – of such measures.
b. Members' proposals under paragraph 24 of the Declaration on the WTO Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics (document ). Under this provision the Council was mandated to continue or initiate work to analyse lessons learned and challenges experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that the Council had already initiated discussions on COVID-19-related experiences in the field of IP under this agenda item, it had been agreed that the Council would treat any proposals that Members might make in this regard under this item.
c. Communications under paragraph 5 of the Decision on the TRIPS Agreement (document ). Under this provision Members are required to "communicate to the Council for TRIPS any measure related to the implementation of the Decision, including the granting of an authorization" as soon as possible after the adoption of the measure. It had been agreed that, to the extent that such communications were not already covered by notifications of laws and regulations under item 1, the Council would provide an update on them under this agenda item. In this regard, she noted that no communications under paragraph 5 of the Ministerial Decision had been received to date.
13. The Chair opened the floor for any intervention on the three aspects treated under this agenda item.
14. The representatives of South Africa, Indonesia, the United States of America, Maldives, Djibouti, on behalf of the LDC Group, Colombia, India, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, took the floor.
15. The Chair proposed to revert to the item at the next meeting to ensure that the exchanges could continue, including on the basis of the following:
a. the updated Secretariat compilation of COVID-19-related IP measures;
b. any communications that might be received from Members under paragraph 5 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision; and
c. any proposals Members might wish to make in the context of paragraph 24 of the WTO Declaration on Pandemic Response.
16. The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to this item at its next meeting. In the interim, the Chair will initiate informal consultations to discuss how Members would like to take work forward on this item.
