7. The Chairperson recalled that, at its previous meeting, on 12 May 1998, the Council had been informed that two notifications concerning the provisions of Articles I and IV(2) of the Appendix to the Berne Convention had been received from Panama and had been circulated in document IP/N/5/PAN/2. These were the first notifications under the provisions of the Appendix to the Berne Convention as incorporated into the TRIPS Agreement. Referring to the procedures applicable to these notifications as agreed by the Council at its meeting of 22 February 19961, he said that it had been understood that the Council was to look into one technical detail only once a Member would invoke these provisions of the Appendix, namely how, under the TRIPS Agreement, the renewable ten-year periods for which such notifications remained valid, should be calculated. At the request of the Council, the Secretariat had prepared a background note on the issue raised by the Panamanian notifications in question. This note had been circulated in document IP/C/W/103.
8. In the light of informal consultations with Members, the Chairperson made the following statement:
"The provisions of Article I(2) of the Appendix as incorporated into the TRIPS Agreement can be understood so that, for the purposes of the TRIPS Agreement, the relevant periods are calculated by reference to the same date, i.e. 10 October 1974, as for the purposes of the Berne Convention. This would mean that renewable periods of ten years would be the same for the purposes of both Agreements, and that, also under the TRIPS Agreement, the period of ten years currently running would expire on 10 October 2004. Such an understanding would make the management of such notifications easier for those developing countries wishing to avail themselves of the provisions of the Appendix under both Agreements. In addition, this would facilitate transparency for other Members and their nationals whose rights might be affected by the use of those provisions."
