152. The Chairman recalled that, at its meeting in February 2003, the Council had adopted a decision on the "Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement". Paragraph 1 of the Decision provided that developed country Members should submit annually reports on actions taken or planned in pursuance of their commitments under Article 66.2. To this end, they were to provide new detailed reports every third year and, in the intervening years, provide updates to their most recent reports. These reports were to be submitted prior to the last Council meeting scheduled for the year in question.
153. The Council had taken up its first annual review of developed country Members' reports on their implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement at its meeting in November 2003. At its meeting in June, the Council had agreed to request developed country Members to submit updates to the reports they had provided in 2003 on actions they had taken or planned in pursuance of their commitments for the present meeting. On 13 July 2004, the Secretariat had issued airgram WTO/AIR/2360 to remind developed country Members of this request.
154. To date, the Council had received updated information from the following developed country Members: New Zealand; Japan; Switzerland; the European Communities and certain member States (the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, the Slovak Republic, Spain, and Sweden); Canada and the United States. The resulting documentation was being circulated in document IP/C/W/431 and addenda.
155. He recalled that, with regard to the purpose and conduct of the review of this information, paragraph 2 of the Decision on the Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement explained that the annual review meetings should provide Members with an opportunity to pose questions in relation to the information submitted and request additional information; discuss the effectiveness of the incentives provided in promoting and encouraging technology transfer to least-developed country Members in order to enable them to create a sound and viable technological base; and consider any points relating to the operation of the reporting procedure established by the Decision.
156. He urged those developed country Members that had not yet provided reports to do so. Given that some of the information had been received only very recently, and most of it was, so far, available only in its original language, he said that it was his intention to provide a further opportunity, at the Council's next meeting, for Members to make comments on the information submitted for this meeting that they might not yet have been able to study.
