102. The representative of Brazil welcomed the extension by the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the moratorium for further two years. He considered that non-violation and situation complaints should be determined inapplicable to the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement. The TRIPS Agreement, unlike other WTO Agreements, was a sui generis agreement. It was not designed to protect market access or the balance of tariff concessions, but rather to establish minimum standards of IP protection. One of the consequences of the application of non-violation and situation complaints could be that developing countries might be prevented from successfully using the flexibilities contained in the Agreement, including those related to the protection of public health.
103. The extension of the non-violation remedy to the TRIPS Agreement might also entail consequences for the predictability and security of the multilateral trading system. He believed that the definition of Members' rights and obligations, based on the text of the Agreement, would become more difficult, leading to impacts on important public policies in the areas of public health, biodiversity protection and transfer of technology.
