195. The representative of Switzerland said that he fully shared the view that obligations under Article 70.8 and 70.9 of the TRIPS Agreement, where applicable, should not prevent attainment of the objectives of paragraph 7 of the Declaration. Therefore his delegation understood the arguments in favour of a waiver of least-developed country Members' obligations under Article 70.9 with regard to exclusive marketing rights with respect to pharmaceutical products. However, he did not understand how Article 70.8, the mailbox system, could prevent attainment of the objectives of paragraph 7 of the Declaration. The mailbox system was a simple but effective means to allow least-developed country Members to adapt their legal systems gradually to the patent obligations under the TRIPS Agreement. Applying such a mechanism in time would put least-developed countries in a better position to avoid being overloaded with patent applications at the date of entry into force of their adapted laws. Moreover, the Council should give thought to the effects that a waiver on Article 70.8 could have on the Members' common efforts to increase the transfer of technology to these least-developed countries. Before being in a position to approve the draft waiver of the obligations under Article 70.8, he wished to have more information in order to understand its implications and whether it would be for the benefit of least-developed countries.
