H.E. Ambassador Dr Walter Werner

European Union

16.1 ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE SPECIAL COMPULSORY LICENSING SYSTEM

495.   This is to respond to the intervention of Benin with regard to the choice of language of reports. We must note that in the European Union there are 28 official languages among Member States. All administrations working in their own language must translate their contributions into English, which is a lot of work for them. We have administrative procedures, descriptions and all project documents which are in their own languages, so it would be very difficult to then produce versions in several languages beyond that. I am not sure it would be possible to transmit this information in other languages than that we can read here in Geneva, namely English.

58.   The Chair recalled that at the meeting on 30 January 2017, when the Council took note of the entry into force of the amended TRIPS Agreement, Members had said this would also be the moment to consider in greater detail how the Special Compulsory Licensing System could be effectively used as a practical procurement tool to respond to public health needs. In addition, Members had also proposed a number of accompanying measures, including legislative advice to implement the mechanism into domestic law and capacity building activities.
59.   The annual review of the System could be usefully guided by the issues that had already been identified in the Council's 2016 report on the Annual Review (circulated in document IP/C/76), as well as those listed in Annex II to the WTO Secretariat's Annual Report on its Technical Cooperation Activities (circulated in document IP/C/W/618). He planned to consult with Members, in the coming months, on how to prepare for a meaningful review. He invited delegations to contribute to the preparation and to participate in substantive discussions.
60.   The Council took note of the information provided.

IP/C/M/89, IP/C/M/89/Add.1