35. The representative of South Africa said that the TRIPS/CBD issue had been on the TRIPS Council's agenda for an inordinately long time without tangible results. A large group of developing country Members had proposed an amendment of the TRIPS Agreement to introduce a mandatory disclosure requirement in patent applications and had sought clear guidance on this matter as part of the modalities decision. The basis of the amendment proposal, as contained in document WT/GC/W/590, required patent applications to disclose the origin of biological resources and/or associated traditional knowledge in patent applications, including prior informed consent and access and benefit sharing. South Africa was a signatory to the CBD. The CBD was conducting its 10th COP in Nagoya, Japan while the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Group was working towards a protocol. Key elements of the access and benefit-sharing regime included the concepts of utilization of genetic resources and its derivatives; traditional knowledge; the scope and relationship with other instruments, non-commercial research and emergency situations. Many of these elements related to the work conducted in WIPO and the TRIPS Council. It was therefore important to involve the CBD Secretariat in the work of the TRIPS Council. He called on Members to reconsider the status of the CBD Secretariat as an observer to the Council's meetings. He supported the proposal by India that the CBD Secretariat be invited to brief the Council on the outcome of its 10th COP.
36. He said that protection of traditional knowledge played a key role in the preservation and sustainability of biodiversity, especially for megabiodiverse countries such as South Africa. Many activities based on traditional knowledge had become an important source of income, food and healthcare for many indigenous and local communities. The growing vulnerability of traditional knowledge had increased the demand for its protection, and created a sense of urgency for most governments, especially in developing countries, to develop legal frameworks that would effectively preserve and protect traditional knowledge. Most countries had identified intellectual property laws as the ideal system that could offer the protection. A multilateral disclosure system would be the most efficient way to realize such protection. He therefore urged Members to crystallise the TRIPS/CBD issue by moving swiftly to text-based negotiations.
