28. The representative of the European Communities wished to encourage all those Members which considered their legislation to be ready for review to agree to an early review during the transitional period to which they would continue to be entitled. It was his understanding that those Members which would accept to be reviewed early would not be subject to a second review exercise later on. He agreed with previous speakers on this point. The objective should be to reduce the workload both of the Council and of the Member concerned. In addition, he wished to make a clear distinction between, on the one hand, those Members which had acceded to the WTO while committing themselves not to avail themselves of any transitional period for the application of the TRIPS Agreement and, on the other hand, Members which were still benefitting from transitional periods. With regard to the former category of Members, including Ecuador, consultations should not be necessary because it was up to the Council to decide when their legislation should be reviewed. Finally, he reiterated his delegation's position concerning two other elements that might be covered by a review in 1998, namely the implementation of paragraphs 8 and 9 of Article 70, which already applied as from the entry into force of the TRIPS Agreement and were not subject to any transitional period, and the implementation of Articles 3, 4 and 5 of the Agreement, which applied as from 1 January 1996 and in respect of which notifications had been announced by several delegations.
