18. The representative of the United States said that, while he appreciated the efforts of those Members who had made recent notifications relating to Article 70.8 and 70.9, his delegation remained concerned that a number of Members who were subject to these provisions of the TRIPS Agreement had either not implemented the necessary procedures or had not made the required notifications. He also noted that many of the notifications that had been made only concerned the procedures to accept the filing of patent applications for inventions concerning pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products, omitting any reference to the procedures that could be used to obtain the exclusive marketing rights required under Article 70.9. The absence of information made it difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain whether such procedures had been implemented by the Members in question. Finally, he said that the efforts of his delegation to resolve its dispute with regard to compliance by the Government of India with Article 70.8 and 70.9 had not proven successful to date and, accordingly, his delegation had requested the establishment of a panel in accordance with the procedures under the DSU.
