144. The Chairperson recalled that, at its meeting in October 2009, the Council had agreed to forward to the General Council a proposal for a decision on a second extension of the period of acceptance by Members of the Protocol Amending the TRIPS Agreement.2 Pursuant to this proposal, the General Council had decided, at its meeting of 17 December 2009, to further extend the period for acceptances of the Protocol until 31 December 2011 or such later date as might be decided by the Ministerial Conference. This decision had been circulated in document WT/L/785.
145. Regarding the status of acceptances of the Protocol Amending the TRIPS Agreement, she said that, since the Council's meeting in October 2009, the following Members had deposited their instruments of acceptance: Nicaragua on 25 January, and Pakistan on 8 February (documents WT/Let/663 and 664, respectively). She encouraged those Members that had not yet notified their acceptance of the Protocol to ensure that necessary measures were being taken in their capitals to allow the consideration of the acceptance in a timely fashion. To date, 28 instruments of acceptance had been deposited, including the one by the European Communities and its member States.
