184. 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 had been an important contribution among other efforts to address the major public health crisis. For her delegation, it was essential that the amendment preserved the entire agreement reached at that time. Therefore, it had to include an express reference to both the Decision and the Chairman's Statement. Her delegation was not seeking to elevate the status of the Chairman's Statement, but it could neither accept it being diminished or eliminated. This was a technical exercise that could be accomplished efficiently and expeditiously without re-opening substantive issues. As regards the asterisked note, she remained of the view that the corrigendum issued by the Secretariat had been unnecessary and that no further action was warranted by the Secretariat. Efforts in the TRIPS Council were better spent on the important work of reaching an agreement on the amendment.
