53. The Chair said that there were 13 pending requests by intergovernmental organizations for observer status in the Council for TRIPS. In the past few years, the Council had made some progress, in particular, by agreeing in 2017 to grant permanent observer status to African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI). It also had agreed to continue granting ad hoc observer status on a meeting-by-meeting basis to the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). He suggested that Members consider the pending requests on their individual merits, in particular the competence and interest that the requesting entity had in matters dealt with by the TRIPS Council.
54. The representatives of India; the United States; Ecuador; South Africa; the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; China, Brazil and Bangladesh took the floor.
55. The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting.
56. The Chair suggested that, since it had not been possible today to reach an agreement to grant permanent observer status to GCC and EFTA, the TRIPS Council invite these organizations to attend the meeting on an ad hoc basis. This was in line with the agreement reached at the TRIPS Council meeting in November 2012 to grant these organizations ad hoc observer status on a meeting-by-meeting basis.
57. The Council so agreed.
