78. The representative of the European Communities said that his delegation had also looked carefully at the synoptic tables that the Secretariat had put together, summarizing the many responses that had been provided by WTO Members in the context of the exercise of reviewing Article 27.3(b) of the Agreement. His delegation's general assessment of the synoptic tables was that they showed a large degree of similarity with regard to the actual implementation of Article 27.3(b) in national law by WTO Members. He wished to highlight this degree of similarity or consistency with a few examples. First, in the area of patents, the majority of the responding Members had legislation that provided for patent protection of entire plants and animals if they fulfilled the requirements of patentability. Secondly, still in the area of patents, the replies also indicated that the use of exclusions, such as for ordre public, had been very limited and had never been the basis for justifying broad exclusions from patentability. The third point on patents was that all responding Members appeared to have legislation providing for patent protection of microorganisms. Fourth, all responding Members excluded essentially biological processes from patentability as they did not fulfil the patentability requirements, in particular the novelty requirement. The last point on patents was that all responding Members required the disclosure of the inventions. On plant varieties, a few examples could also be given. For example, almost all responding Members provided for a sui generis system of protection. The only exception was Zambia, but it was in the process of doing so. Most Members had acted upon UPOV 1991 provisions. In practice, this meant that all Members agreed that plant variety rights were not an obstacle to further research and development. It also meant that responding Members considered that the optional exception for farmers to use, for propagating purposes on their own holdings, products of their harvest was attractive and sufficient to create a balance between users and owners of rights in new plant varieties. These were a few examples that showed how useful this exercise had been.
