20. The Chairman suggested that, since the practice in the Council's past meetings had been that delegates address the three agenda items together, the Council again take them up at the same time. He recalled that the Council had received, just prior to its last meeting, a submission from Bolivia, Brazil, India, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand and Venezuela entitled "Elements of the Obligation to Disclose the Source and Country of Origin of Biological Resource and/or Traditional Knowledge Used in an Invention" (IP/C/W/429/Rev.1 and its addendum 1). In concluding these agenda items at that meeting, the Chair had said that Members might wish to revert to that document at the present meeting, given that it had been circulated just prior to that meeting. Furthermore, the Council had received three new submissions; one from Switzerland entitled "Further Observations by Switzerland on Its Proposals Regarding the Declaration of the Source of Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge in Patent Applications (IP/C/W/433); another from the United States relating to these three agenda items (IP/C/W/434); and a third from India on behalf of Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, India, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand and Venezuela (subsequently circulated as IP/C/W/438).
21. The Chairman recalled that, at its last meeting, the Council had agreed that the future Chair would continue the consultations initiated by the former Chair on how future work on the three agenda items should be organized. He said that, pursuant to this, he had held consultations on the matter. However, the consultations had not yet developed to a point where he would have been able to put a set of suggestions to the Council at the present meeting.
