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

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1. Meeting date

2. Chairperson

H.E. Ambassador Dr Lansana GBERIE

3. Intervention by

World Trade Organization

4. Agenda item

14 INFORMATION ON RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS ELSEWHERE IN THE WTO

5. Statement/summary of statement

382.   As in previous occasions and for Members' information, the Secretariat will provide a brief update of the issues related to intellectual property policy that have come up in the most recent Trade Policy Reviews. Since our last report during the TRIPS Council Meeting in October 2022, the Trade Policy Reviews of Djibouti, Barbados, Brazil, Seychelles, the United States of America, the Dominican Republic, Malaysia, and Japan took place. During these reviews, delegations engaged in the discussions and sought further details on:  The domestic implementation of the TRIPS Agreement;  Institutional arrangements for the administration and enforcement of intellectual property;  Copyright and related rights regimes;  Trademark regime;  Protection of geographical indications;  Patent regime;  Enforcement, online and at the border; and  Measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 383.   We have also started to work on the upcoming Director-General's Trade Monitoring Report. On 10 March, the Director-General invited delegations to submit information on measures implemented between mid-October 2022 and mid-May 2023. This request covers trade- and intellectual property-related measures. In her communication, the Director General announced the new online platform for the submission and verification of measures, which the Secretariat developed in response to requests by delegations during the 7th Appraisal of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism to modernize and digitalize the exchange of information. This new online platform is part of the WTO Trade Monitoring Database (TMDB) (https://tmdb.wto.org). 384.   Delegates responsible for the Trade Monitoring Exercise are receiving this week an email with a secure and individual link to access the Trade Monitoring Platform. This link will allow delegates to access their respective space for the submission and verification of measures. Therefore, and as flagged at the beginning of this meeting, it is essential that delegates update their information on the Registration System. Delegates will also receive an invitation to the launch of the Trade Monitoring, envisaged for next Thursday, 23 March 2023, at 2pm in the afternoon, in Room E. We look forward to receiving your submissions on TRIPS-related measures.

6. Documents referred to in intervention

7. Conclusion

69. The Council took note of the information provided and the statements made.

8. Summary of the agenda item (if available)

64. The Chair recalled that the purpose of this information agenda item was to keep Members posted of developments in the WTO, which had a TRIPS or intellectual property angle.
65. Regarding dispute settlement, the Chair noted that one request for consultations had been formally submitted since the last meeting. By means of a communication dated 12 December 2022, and revised on 9 February 2023, China requested consultations with the United States of America regarding Measures on Certain Semiconductor and other Products, and related services and technologies. The requests were circulated on 15 December 2022 and 10 February 2023, respectively (documents and ).
66. Regarding developments relating to the TRIPS amendment, the Chair said that the period for acceptance of the Protocol currently ran until 31 December 2023 (document ). 136 Members had now accepted the TRIPS amendment. He encouraged the remaining 28 Members to complete their domestic procedures and deposit their instrument of acceptance with the WTO Director-General as soon as possible.
67. The Chair invited the Secretariat to provide the regular briefing on IP-related issues considered in the context of individual Members' trade policy reviews, and in the Director-General's Monitoring Report.
68. A representative of the Secretariat took the floor.
69. The Council took note of the information provided and the statements made.

9. Document symbol and date of distribution

IP/C/M/107, IP/C/M/107/Add.1
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