Minutes - TRIPS Council - View details of the intervention/statement

Mr. Martin Glass (Hong Kong, China)
C; D; E REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 27.3(B); RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY; PROTECTION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE
73. The representative of South Africa said that the relevance of the Nagoya Protocol to the work of the TRIPS Council was obvious. A large group of developing countries had proposed an amendment to the TRIPS Agreement in order to introduce a mandatory disclosure requirement in patent applications in accordance with document WT/GC/W/590. In that document, patent applications were required to include the origin of biological resources and/or associated traditional knowledge, prior informed consent and access and benefit sharing. In that context, he welcomed Article 6 of the Nagoya Protocol that required Members to take steps to ensure prior informed consent to be obtained, and Article 5 that recognised that the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources be shared in a fair and equitable manner. 74. He said that, while national approaches were a step in the right direction, such diverse approaches might fall short of ensuring the universal accrual of benefits from the use of genetic resources. The best guarantee for achieving such benefits lay in the amendment of the TRIPS Agreement by requiring mandatory disclosure. He reiterated his delegation's call for inclusion of the CBD Secretariat in the work of the TRIPS Council and said that the relationship between the CBD and the TRIPS Agreement should be further articulated in light of developments and guidelines provided by the Nagoya Protocol.
IP/C/M/65