143. The representative of the United States noted that the agreement reached on 30 August 2003 to implement paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health provided an important contribution, among other efforts, to address major public health crises faced by those most in need. His delegation remained fully committed to reaching an agreement on the amendment expeditiously. It was essential that this amendment preserve the entire agreement reached in August 2003. It therefore needed to include an express reference to both the Decision and the Chairman's Statement.
144. His delegation continued to believe that substantive issues should not be re-opened and the exercise be viewed as technical. He recalled that this issue had been resolved by consensus among all Members in August 2003 after 20 months of considerable work by delegations. He noted that his delegation sought only to preserve all aspects of the agreement reached in August 2003, including the legal relationship between the General Council text and the Chairman's Statement, and remained open to how this could be best and most expeditiously accomplished.
