56. The Chairman recalled that, at its meeting of 24 May 1995, the Council for TRIPS had authorized him, as its Chairman, with the assistance of the Secretariat, to enter into informal contacts with WIPO, to inform them of the state of thinking in the Council on the question of arrangements for cooperation between the WTO and WIPO, in particular with regard to the types of cooperation under consideration in the Council. Accompanied by an official of the Secretariat, he had met the Director General of WIPO, Dr. Arpad Bogsch, on 22 June 1995. He had explained to Dr. Bogsch that the purpose of the meeting was to enter into informal contacts with WIPO as part of the process aimed at establishing appropriate arrangements for cooperation between the two Organizations, pursuant to Article 68 of the TRIPS Agreement. He had made clear the informal nature of the meeting, in which neither side would be committed, and had outlined the state of thinking in the TRIPS Council on possible cooperation on the notification of national laws and regulations, on notification requirements stemming from the incorporation by reference into the TRIPS Agreement of Article 6ter of the Paris Convention and on technical cooperation. Dr. Bogsch had been given the relevant papers on which the TRIPS Council had been working, notably the "Working Hypothesis" on Procedures for Notification of, and Possible Establishment of a Common Register of, National Laws and Regulations under Article 63.2 (IP/C/W/6) and the ideas concerning the possible elements of a system under which WIPO would be requested to handle, on behalf of the WTO, notifications required under the TRIPS Agreement stemming from the incorporation by reference of Article 6ter of the Paris Convention, as outlined in paragraphs 18 to 21 of document PC/IPL/7/Add.2, and the status of those papers had been explained. On the question of technical cooperation, he had said that he hoped to have more detailed advice from the TRIPS Council as to the sort of cooperation between the two Organizations that might be envisaged as a result of a discussion on the general issue of technical cooperation, including the rôle of the WTO Secretariat, that the Council would undertake at its September meeting. Dr. Bogsch had said that he was not in a position at that time to provide a substantive reaction. First a decision would need to be taken as to how WIPO would be represented in the process of informal contacts. As to substance, some clarifications on the text of the "Working Hypothesis", as contained in document IP/C/W/6, had been sought and given.
57. Continuing, the Chairman said that the issue of cooperation between WIPO and the WTO was on the agenda of the WIPO Governing Bodies which would meet next week and that a memorandum had been submitted to the Governing Bodies by Dr. Bogsch which contained a number of observations about the "Working Hypothesis" and the other areas of cooperation that had been discussed with him. The Chairman said that he had held consultations with delegations on, in particular, the question as to whether there was anything that the Council for TRIPS might wish to add or clarify in respect of what had been communicated to WIPO which would be helpful for the deliberations of the WIPO Governing Bodies on the matter. These consultations had led him to believe that there was a general view amongst delegations that a communication should be sent to the members of WIPO without delay, informing them of the Council's views on a number of points. The first point would be to emphasize once more the importance attached by the Council to the development of cooperative and mutually supportive relations with WIPO. Second, the communication would inform WIPO that the elements in document IP/C/W/6 relating to cooperation with WIPO constituted a proposal from the TRIPS Council to WIPO for cooperation in this area, without prejudice to the possible need for the further refining of language or details. Third, the same message would be given to WIPO in respect of cooperation on Article 6ter of the Paris Convention, namely that the ideas put forward in paragraphs 18 to 21 of document PC/IPL/7/Add.2 constituted a proposal from the TRIPS Council, subject once more to this being without prejudice to the possible need for the further refining of language or details. Fourth, the communication would stress the value attached by the TRIPS Council to the development cooperation activities of WIPO in assisting developing countries to meet their obligations under the TRIPS Agreement and the hope of the Council that WIPO would be able to enhance these activities in the future. It would also express the desire of the TRIPS Council that the International Bureau of WIPO and the WTO Secretariat would further develop cooperation in their technical cooperation activities relating to the TRIPS Agreement so as to maximize the usefulness of these activities and to ensure their complementary nature.
58. The Chairman suggested that, if this approach was agreeable to the Council, he would send a letter to the Director General of WIPO asking him to inform the members of WIPO of the above. He proposed to add that he, with the assistance of the Secretariat, would be ready to meet the representatives chosen by WIPO with a view to drawing up the text of an agreement between the two Organizations, and to express the hope that such a text could be submitted to the Council for TRIPS and the appropriate body of WIPO so as to allow its coming into force preferably before the end of this year.
