42. The Chairman recalled that, at its meeting in March, the Chair had said that he imagined that, in regard to the TRIPS Agreement, Members would want to conduct China's normal TRIPS review together with the review by the TRIPS Council foreseen for this year in the transitional review mechanism (TRM) under China's Protocol of Accession. The representative of China had welcomed this proposed combination of the transitional review with the Council's normal review of China's TRIPS implementing legislation. The Council had agreed to revert to this matter at the present meeting.
43. Since the meeting in March, he had consulted Members on the arrangements for these reviews. At the Council's informal meeting of 17 May, Members had indicated that they would agree that the Council's normal review of China's TRIPS implementation and the review under the transitional review mechanism would be combined at the Council's meeting scheduled for 17 19 September 2002. The normal review would be conducted following the Council's standard procedures. By way of background information, he informed the Council that the Secretariat had received a notification of the TRIPS implementing laws and regulations from China.3
44. He suggested that the Council confirm the dates for the submission of questions and responses under China's normal review in accordance with the Council's standard practice as follows:
- questions should be submitted to China, with a copy to the Secretariat, by 9 July 2002, i.e. 10 weeks before the meeting in September 2002; and
- responses to questions posed within that deadline should be submitted by 20 August 2002, i.e. four weeks before the meeting in September 2002.
45. As regards the procedures applicable for the reviews in September, he clarified that he was suggesting that Members might use the standard TRIPS review procedures this year for the normal TRIPS Council review, and that he was not suggesting any special procedures for the TRM review this year. The question of what should be done by the TRIPS Council for future TRM reviews would have to be considered next year, according to China's Protocol of Accession and in the light of whatever practice for such reviews had been evolved by other WTO bodies.
