2.1. The Chairman said that, since its meeting in June 2015, the Council had received a number of updates to earlier notifications of laws and regulations notified under Article 63.2 of the Agreement:
• Mauritius had notified its Copyright Act 2014;
• Australia had notified its Copyright Amendment Act, the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Act 2015, and the Intellectual Property Legislation Amendment Regulation 2015;
• Chinese Taipei had notified its Enforcement Rules of the Trademark Act and the Regulations Governing the Implementation of Filing Trademark Applications and Services by Electronic Means; and
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had notified its Copyright Act, Trademarks Act, Patents Act, Geographical Indications Act, Industrial Designs Act, Layout Designs Act, as well as the Civil Procedure Code and the Criminal Procedure Code.
2.2. These notifications of laws and regulations were available in the IP/N/1- series of documents, and the actual texts of laws in sub-series of documents in electronic form on the Documents Online database.
2.3. In addition, the laws that had been notified by Tajikistan would be introduced under the item on "Reviews of National Implementing Legislation".
2.4. No new or updated information had been submitted regarding contact points under Article 69 for the exchange of information and cooperation on trade in infringing goods since the Council's meeting in June 2015.
2.5. He encouraged delegations that had notified a new or revised legislative measure, or a new or updated response to the enforcement checklist to briefly inform the Council about the nature of the notified amendment or update. Several delegations had followed this practice at recent sessions of the Council and it had provided valuable insight into the notifications provided and had assisted in promoting awareness and transparency.
2.6. The representatives of Chinese Taipei and Australia briefly introduced their respective legislative measures.
2.7. The Chairman recalled that, at the Council's last meeting, the Secretariat had updated delegations on its work regarding the development of a reporting tool that would help transition to a full online system. He invited the Secretariat to provide a brief overview on the state of play for the Council.
2.8. The representative of the Secretariat updated the Council on its work to improve the notification system.
2.9. The Chairman urged those Members whose initial notifications of laws and regulations remained incomplete to submit the outstanding material without delay. Equally, he urged other Members to fulfil their obligation under the TRIPS Agreement to notify any subsequent amendments of their laws and regulations without delay after their entry into force. He especially encouraged Members to notify changes made to their laws and/or regulations to implement the Decision on TRIPS and public health. Such notifications would assist the Council in its review of the operation of the TRIPS Agreement. He endorsed the Secretariat's encouragement for Members to contact them for assistance in making use of the user-friendly notification tools that were under development in the context of the eTRIPS project.
2.10. The Council took note of the statements made.
