26. The Chairperson recalled that her predecessor had informed the Council at its meeting in October 2007 that Tonga had acceded to the WTO with a transitional period until 30 June 2008. The Council had agreed that it would come back to the arrangements for the review of the legislation of Tonga at its second meeting in 2008. Furthermore, Ukraine had recently acceded to the WTO and was not applying any transitional period in the area of TRIPS. It was her intention to provide the Council with more information on its accession under agenda item K on "Information on Developments Elsewhere in the WTO".
27. In preparation of the upcoming reviews of TRIPS implementing legislation of these two newly acceded countries, she suggested that the Secretariat be requested to contact Tonga and Ukraine concerning the notification procedures of the Council. Given that, after the receipt of the notifications of their national implementing legislations, other Members would need some time to prepare questions to be posed to them in the context of the reviews, and then Tonga and Ukraine would need some time to prepare their responses, it would appear that the most appropriate time for the review of their TRIPS implementing legislation would be the Council's first meeting in 2009.
28. The Council's first meeting in 2009 had not yet been scheduled, but she expected it to take place, as usual, in February or early March. Using that approximate date, and in accordance with the standard procedures for the review of legislation, she proposed that the Council set the following target dates for the submission of questions and answers in this review:
- Questions should normally be submitted to Tonga and Ukraine, with a copy to the Secretariat, ten weeks before the meeting in which the review takes place; accordingly, she suggested to set the target date on 1 December 2008.
- Responses to questions posed within that deadline should normally be submitted four weeks before the meeting; accordingly, she suggested to set the target date on 12 January 2009.
