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

Ambassador Eui-yong Chung (Korea, Republic of)
C.ii.ii Costs
88. The representative of Argentina associated her delegation with the statement made by the delegation of Australia on costs and supported the view that the administrative cost to the Secretariat would not be substantially different from those accrued to it for administering the WTO system of notifications. She held the view that the more complex a system was, the more costly it would be. In her view, the discussion on costs would not lead anywhere as it was currently taking place. She referred to various possible elements of the cost issue. What would be the administrative cost to the Secretariat? Would the system be self-financing? Would the system involve an increase in Members' shares of contribution? She pointed out that no one knew with what resources the system was going to be established. She would, therefore, suggest that the Secretariat provide concrete estimates on the current costs it had in respect of the implementation of the existing notification system in the WTO. She said it would be useful to have a cost estimate regarding the proposals, to know the parameters and see whether delegations were departing from those parameters or not. 89. She said that Argentina was not ready to accept any system which would mean additional burdens for its government and producers. 90. She finally expressed concerns regarding the tendency of some delegations to make categorization of countries, in particular developing countries, for example into wine producers and non-wine producers, or to refer to competitiveness or cost/price competitiveness. She had also noted that, on the basis of an initial proposal, some delegations had brought in elements which added to the complex nature of the proposal and deserved careful attention.
TN/IP/M/3