119. The representative of Japan said that, in his view, IP protection was conducive to the development of medical technology. He emphasized that the debate on access to medicines should not be limited to the functioning of the System, but also needed to take into account other important elements, such as procurement and tariffs. The very objective of the System was to contribute to increasing access to medicines for WTO Members with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector. Compulsory licences were just one tool to promote this objective. The System should therefore not be considered as the only solution in an isolated manner, but as an optional measure next to other efforts to address this critical problem.
120. He said that knowing about the specific concerns of potential importing countries that wanted to use the System was indispensable for the review. He therefore invited those Members to share their experiences, including any difficulties they were facing. It would be beneficial for the Council to listen to such observations by potential importing Members, based on the list of topics and questions for discussion prepared for the annual reviews in 2010 and 2011. Because some topics in the list had not yet been fully discussed, he maintained that the organization of an open-ended workshop was premature.
