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

Ambassador Eui-yong Chung (Korea, Republic of)
B OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
The representative of Egypt said that his delegation, too, would like to see all those organizations interested in attending the Council's Special Session granted observer status, particularly when they had relevance to the work of the Special Session like WIPO. The point was that the Council could not reach a selective decision or follow a selective approach to reach a decision on an issue of systemic nature which was being dealt with under both the umbrella of the General Council and of the TNC as far as the negotiating groups and the special sessions were concerned. For that reason, he did not see how Members could, at this meeting, try to find a way out of that problem, either by trying to have different categories, ad hoc observers or special invitees, or through any other mechanism. He added that the position expressed by his delegation was also shared by a number of WTO Members.
The Special Session agreed to revert to this issue in the next meeting in the light of any action by the TNC or the General Council.
TN/IP/M/2