81. The Chairperson recalled that the Council had agreed, at its meeting in June, to focus on technical cooperation at the present meeting. In preparation for this annual review, developed country Members had once more been requested to update information on their technical and financial cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement in time for this meeting. Other Members who also made available technical cooperation had been encouraged to share information on these activities if they so wished. The Secretariat had issued on 13 July 2004 an airgram WTO/AIR/2359 reminding Members of this request. In addition, intergovernmental organization observers to the Council and the WTO Secretariat had also been invited to provide information.
82. To date, the Council had received information from the following developed country Members: New Zealand; Switzerland; Japan; the United States; Norway; the European Communities and the following member States: Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The resulting documentation concerning the technical cooperation activities of developed country Members was being circulated in document IP/C/W/426 and addenda. So far, updated information from the following intergovernmental organizations had been obtained: the IMF, the OECD, and the WHO. This information was being circulated in documents IP/C/W/424 and addenda. Updated information on the WTO Secretariat's technical cooperation activities in the area of TRIPS was available in document IP/C/W/428.
83. The Chairperson urged those Members that had not yet provided updated information to do so, and said that at the next Council's meeting Members would be provided with an opportunity to make comments on the information submitted for this meeting that they might not yet have been able to study.
