92. The representative of Egypt recalled the mandate given by Ministers to the Council, which had instructed the Council, in pursuing its work programme including under the review of Article 27.3(b), to examine, inter alia, the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the CBD, the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore. The Council was therefore the best place to conduct that work. He said that the disclosure requirement had been implemented by several developing and developed countries, where it worked very well in terms of contributing to innovation and not creating a burden on stakeholders. As highlighted by Switzerland, it was important to ensure legal certainty, confidence and credibility of the patent system. Regarding the IGC, he said that as long as databases did not lose the confidentiality, it could be supportive to the objective of avoidance of erroneous patents. He endorsed the request made by China and the African Group to invite the Director-General to continue his consultations on the TRIPS-CBD issue to ensure the mutual supportiveness between the TRIPS Agreement, the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol.
