144. The representative of Argentina reiterated that, according to the Declaration, Members could take the measures they considered necessary to protect public health and to promote access to medicines. The Declaration clearly stated that Members had the right to use the flexibility contained in the TRIPS Agreement to meet public health requirements. Therefore, any proposed solution should not be limited to compulsory licensing of those pharmaceutical products required only to address HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria as listed in the Declaration. These were only given as examples. The solution should be a permanent one which did not limit an individual country's capacity to deal with any public health problems that might arise. The Declaration had stated clearly that the TRIPS Agreement only referred to conditions that should be considered for the granting of compulsory licensing and not the causing factors, which should be determined domestically by each Member. The proposals already tabled attempted to find a solution in the short term, but any solution should also make it possible to ensure compliance with Articles 7 and 8 of the TRIPS Agreement by facilitating transfer of technology and development of a viable scientific and technological infrastructure in developing and least-developed countries. With regard to the statement made by the representative of the European Communities to exclude developed countries from the solution, she suggested that a work programme on the definition of elements be set up in the TRIPS Council to categorize importing and exporting countries.
