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

Mr. S. Harbinson (Hong Kong)
B Arrangements for Cooperation with WIPO
4. The Chairman drew attention to the report of the Contact Group on TRIPS as contained in document PC/IPL/7 and Addenda 1 and 2. This report, which had been remitted to the Council for TRIPS for further consideration and action as appropriate, included a staged programme of work on the question of arrangements for cooperation with WIPO (PC/IPL/7, paragraph 6). He suggested that the Council might consider first whether any further information was desirable for having an adequate basis to consider this matter. The second point that could be addressed was the clarification of what WTO Members wished to achieve on certain issues and of what forms of cooperation they might seek with WIPO in the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. It was for the TRIPS Council to come to a view on these matters first, since the issue at this stage concerned the cooperation that might be sought of WIPO in the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. This would not be understood to preclude exploring in consultations any contribution that the TRIPS Council could make to the work of WIPO if WIPO should seek it; this would be consistent with the notion of a "mutually supportive relationship". The third point that he invited delegations to address was how the consultations between the two Organizations might best be organized. He also requested comments on the issue raised in paragraph 8 of the Contact Group's report, namely the suggestion that the TRIPS Council should consider whether WIPO should be invited to meetings of the General Council when matters of direct relevance to it were under discussion. He first offered the floor to the observer from WIPO so that he could update the Council on relevant activities of that Organization.
IP/C/M/1