24. The representative of Egypt said that the position of his delegation as expressed at the previous meeting of the Council remained unchanged. His delegation had great difficulties in going along with the proposal by the European Communities for a systematic review, which his delegation believed went beyond the provisions and the requirements of the TRIPS Agreement. Of course, Members should be ready to provide relevant information to the Council, for example in response to questions like those the United States had submitted to certain delegations. According to information from the Egyptian Patent Office, the Patent Office had been fulfilling its obligations to file the applications for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products since the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement. The Office had received 254 applications between 1 January 1995 and the end of 1997. The legal basis for the protection of the patent was a new patent law which was in process of issuance. This law included the relevant provisions concerning the commitments to implement the provisions of Article 70.9 of the Agreement. He hoped that this proved his delegation's goodwill in providing information and implementing the Agreement.
