Actas - Consejo de los ADPIC - Ver detalles de la intervención/declaración

Ambassador Al-Otaibi (Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia) and Ambassador Alfredo Suescum (Panama)
8 NON-VIOLATION AND SITUATION COMPLAINTS
216. South Africa as a Member of the WTO is fully committed to upholding its obligations and commitments, as set out in the different WTO laws and regulations with specific reference to the TRIPS Agreement. 217. South Africa recognizes the need for protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, however, we believe that the insertion of non-violation and situation complains will be inappropriate under the TRIPS Agreement for reasons already set out on in document IP/C/W/385/Rev.1. We therefore call on this Council to recommend to the 10th Ministerial Conference that subparagraphs 1(b) and (c) of Article XXIII of GATT 1994 shall not apply to the settlement of disputes under the TRIPS Agreement on a permanent basis.
The Council took note of the statements made and so agreed.
8.1. The Chairman recalled that, at the Ninth Session of the Ministerial Conference, Ministers had directed the Council for TRIPS to continue its examination of the scope and modalities for complaints of the types provided for under subparagraphs 1(b) and 1(c) of Article XXIII of GATT 1994 and make recommendations to their next Session, which they had decided to hold in 2015. It had been agreed that, in the meantime, Members would not initiate such complaints under the TRIPS Agreement.

8.2. Members had discussed the matter at the three meetings that the Council held in 2014, as well as at its meetings in February and June 2015. During this period, the Council had received a communication from the United States on "Non-Violation Complaints under the TRIPS Agreement" (IP/C/W/599) and a revision of an earlier communication on "Non-Violation and Situation Nullification or Impairment Under the TRIPS Agreement" by a number of Members (IP/C/W/385/Rev.1). These documents had served as the basis for an extensive exchange of views among Members. Furthermore, since the Council's June meeting, the delegation of Peru, on behalf of the delegations of Argentina, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Sri Lanka and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, had submitted a draft decision on non-violation and situation complaints for consideration at the forthcoming Ministerial Conference (IP/C/W/607). Since then, the delegation of Lesotho, on behalf of the African Group, had informed the WTO Secretariat that the African Group wished to co-sponsor both the communication on "Non-Violation and Situation Nullification or Impairment under the TRIPS Agreement" and the draft decision on non-violation and situation complaints. The request for co-sponsorship had been circulated in documents IP/C/W/385/Rev.1/Add.1 and IP/C/W/607/Add.1, respectively.

8.3. At its meeting in June, the Council had requested the Chairman to hold consultations on this matter. He had met with interested delegations and the coordinators of regional groups in early July and mid-September, and had also discussed the issue individually with numerous delegations. At these consultations, delegations had not yet indicated any new developments in their positions. Furthermore, at the open-ended informal meeting of the Council held on 14 October 2015, no new developments had been reported either.

8.4. The representatives of Peru; Brazil; the United States; India; Cuba; Canada; Indonesia; Argentina; Colombia; Egypt; Ecuador; China; the Philippines; Thailand; the Russian Federation; Nigeria on behalf of the African Group; Bangladesh on behalf of the LDC Group; Chile; Norway; Plurinational State of Bolivia; Hong Kong, China; South Africa; the European Union; Chinese Taipei; Switzerland; Sri Lanka; the Republic of Korea; New Zealand; the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Japan; and Nepal took the floor.

8.5. The Chairman suggested that the Council keep open this agenda item in order to reconvene once further work was sufficiently mature with a view to the Council agreeing on a recommendation to the Ministerial Conference.

8.6. The Council took note of the statements made and so agreed.

8.7. At the Council for TRIPS' reconvened formal meeting of 23 November 2015, the Chairman proposed that, in light of the informal meeting held earlier that day, that the Council agree to recommend that the Tenth Ministerial Conference decide as follows:

"We take note of the work done by the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights pursuant to our Decision of 7 December 2013 on "TRIPS Non-Violation and Situation Complaints" (WT/L/906), and direct it to continue its examination of the scope and modalities for complaints of the types provided for under subparagraphs 1(b) and 1(c) of Article XXIII of GATT 1994 and make recommendations to our next Session, which we have decided to hold in 2017. It is agreed that, in the meantime, Members will not initiate such complaints under the TRIPS Agreement."

8.8. The Council so agreed.

8.9. The Chairman once again thanked all the delegations involved in the consultations for their hard work and considerable efforts, as well as those delegations which, although not directly involved, had provided support and counsel in the course of the consultation process. He also thanked Ambassador Suescum for his availability to replace his in his absence from Geneva. Finally, he expressed his gratitude to the Secretariat, which had worked hard to support this process.

8.10. The representatives of Peru; the United States; India; Switzerland; Egypt; China; the Republic of Korea; Argentina; Ecuador; Japan; the European Union; Colombia; Brazil; Sri Lanka; Chinese Taipei; Malaysia; Bangladesh on behalf of the LDC Group; the Russian Federation; Chile; South Africa; Hong Kong, China; and Nigeria on behalf of the African Group took the floor.

8.11. The Council took note of the statements made.

IP/C/M/80, IP/C/M/80/Add.1