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

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1. Meeting date

2. Chairperson

H.E. Ambassador Dr. Walter Werner

3. Intervention by

Canada

4. Agenda item

5   PROTECTION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE

5. Statement/summary of statement

56.   Canada continues to firmly believe that the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity are complementary, and that there is therefore no need to amend the TRIPS Agreement in this regard. 57.   Canada welcomes the ongoing work of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC). Canada views the IGC as the best and most appropriate forum for discussion on these complex issues. It is an important venue to bring together expert views to discuss IP related issues in order to identify evidence-based, balanced, appropriate and mutually-beneficial approaches. Canada has been, and continues to be, an active and committed participant to this important work, and welcomes the concrete discussions and exchanges of national experiences at the IGC, which are so important to identify the issues at hand. In this regard, Canada looks forward to the upcoming 39th session of the IGC in March 2019. 58.   With respect to procedural matters at the TRIPS Council, as Canada has previously noted, and without prejudice to our position on substantive matters, Canada can support from a procedural standpoint a briefing from the CBD Secretariat to the TRIPS Council, should there be sufficient interest from other Members on the matter. Canada could also support the compilation of the three factual notes on the TRIPS Agreement and the CBD, review of Article 27.3(b), and protection of traditional knowledge (documents IP/C/W/368/Rev.1, IP/C/W/369/Rev.1, and IP/C/W/370/Rev.1) by the WTO Secretariat. Canada remains of the understanding that this would remain an information collating exercise, and in both cases, this is without prejudice to national positions on these issues.

6. Documents referred to in intervention

7. Conclusion

The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matters at its next meeting.

8. Summary of the agenda item (if available)

14.   The Chair proposed that, following past practice, agenda items 3, 4 and 5 would be addressed together. He noted that there had been important developments in these areas in many WTO Members. However, these developments had not been shared with the Council. Particularly, there had been no response or update to the Illustrative List of Questions on Article 27.3(b) (IP/C/W/122) since 2003; and only 25 Members had responded at all. Likewise, there had been no notifications to the TRIPS Council of domestic laws that related to the protection of genetic resources and traditional knowledge. He encouraged delegations to submit responses to the Checklist or update their previous responses; as well as to notify any relevant changes in legislation. At the previous meeting, delegations had continued their discussion on two long-standing procedural issues, namely the suggestion first made in November 2012 that the Secretariat update the three factual notes on the Council's previous discussions on TRIPS/CBD and related items; and the proposal initially submitted in October 2010 that the CBD Secretariat be invited to brief the Council on the Nagoya Protocol to the CBD. He said that he had no new developments to report in this regard.
15.   The representatives of India, South Africa, Ecuador, China, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, the United States of America, Japan, Brazil, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Indonesia and Chile took the floor.
16.   The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matters at its next meeting.

9. Document symbol and date of distribution

IP/C/M/91, IP/C/M/91/Add.1, IP/C/M/91/Corr.1
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