105. The representative of Switzerland said that his delegation was prepared to join consensus to further extend the period for acceptance by Members of the Protocol with a view to permanently inserting the system established under the Decision in the TRIPS Agreement. However, he was concerned by the fact that four years had passed since the General Council's Decision in December 2005 and only less than one third of the Members had notified their acceptance of the Protocol. He reminded delegations of the urgent calls at the time of negotiating the amendment which was meant to address a major concern of developing countries without manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector when facing a public health problem. Given the efforts deployed to adopt the Protocol, it was disappointing that only a small number of Members had accepted it so far. His delegation had done so in 2006 and had also implemented the system at the national level through the revised Patent Act in force since July 2008 (IP/N/1/CHE/P/9). Manufacturing capacities in the Swiss pharmaceutical sector were thus made available to Members who found themselves in a situation addressed by the system. It was, however, unfortunate that the implementing legislation continued to be based on a waiver decision adopted by the General Council, and not on a permanent amendment of the TRIPS Agreement. His delegation therefore encouraged those Members which had not yet accepted the Protocol to do so expeditiously so as to allow its entry into force before the expiry of the once more extended period for acceptance. He remained convinced that the system was workable and should be used by Members efficiently.
