70. The Chair recalled that, at the 11th Ministerial Conference (MC11), Ministers had agreed that the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce be continued, based on the existing mandate adopted by the General Council in September 1998. They had instructed the General Council to periodically review the work on the basis of reports to be submitted by the relevant WTO bodies. For the first such review in July 2018, the Chair of the General Council, Ambassador Ihara, had asked him to report on the work carried out in the TRIPS Council. To prepare for this, he had bilaterally discussed with some delegations whether they intended to discuss the Work Programme on E-Commerce at this meeting. In the informal consultations with a small group of Members last week, one delegation had raised the question as to how the TRIPS Council could best give the appropriate follow-up to the Ministerial Decision to continue the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce. Given that there had been no request for the inclusion of an ad hoc agenda item on ecommerce, the Chair invited delegations to share any views or ideas on this issue under "Other Business".
71. The representatives of Bangladesh, the United States, Brazil, Benin, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the European Union took the floor.
72. The Chair said that he would consult on how to move forward with regard to procedural matters.
73. The Council took note of the statements made.
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