H.E. Ambassador Dr Pimchanok PITFIELD

China

15 OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

468.  China would like to reiterate our position on this issue. TRIPS CBD is an important issue in the TRIPS Council. Inviting the Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat (CBD) as an observer to the TRIPS Council will update the CBD Secretariat on the discussion and development in the Council, and correspondingly have the WTO Members better understanding the principles, requirements and the work of the CBD. We believe the mutual support and the deep communication to the CBD Secretariat and the WTO will contribute to our discussion at our Council. Again, with regard to the South Centre, its role in serving the progress and the development of developing Members have been widely recognized and it has carried out extensive research in the fields of intellectual property technology transfer and knowledge accessibility which has enhanced the developing Members' understanding and application of the TRIPS Agreement. Therefore, we would like to reiterate our support for granting the CBD Secretariat and the South Centre observer status at least on an ad hoc basis.

The Council so agreed.

75. The Chair said that there continued to be 14 pending requests for observer status in the TRIPS Council by intergovernmental organizations. The updated list of requests, and the information provided by these organizations on their respective work and the reasons for their interest in observer status was available on the Members' website.
76. The representatives of Indonesia; Colombia; the United States of America; and China took the floor.
77. The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting.
78. The Chair recalled that, at its meeting in November 2012, the Council had agreed to grant ad hoc observer status on a meeting-to-meeting basis to the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Since then, this invitation had been renewed at each meeting. The Chair suggested to invite again the EFTA to attend the Council's next formal meeting on an ad hoc basis.
79. The Council so agreed.

IP/C/M/108, IP/C/M/108/Add.1