5.5. The representative of China said that the TRIPS-CBD issue, as part of the Doha Round negotiations, was a long-standing issue. The Doha Round negotiations had been restored and Members had been busy with the preparations of the 9th Ministerial Conference. The TRIPS-CBD issue did not seem to be one of the candidates for an early harvest. In her view, the TRIPS-CBD issue deserved an urgent resolution. She said that, as a co sponsor of documents TN/C/W/52 and TN/C/W/59, China believed that the TRIPS Agreement, the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol should operate in a mutually supportive way. A mandatory disclosure requirement would safeguard the rights related to genetic resources and traditional knowledge within the patent system, contribute to improving the transparency and legal certainty regarding the utilization of genetic resources and traditional knowledge, and would make the patent system supportive of the provisions of the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol. As indicated in document TN/C/W/59, it would not be burdensome for patent applicants to disclose information concerning prior informed consent and access and benefit sharing in view of the legitimate objectives pursued by the disclosure requirement.
5.6. Contractual arrangements proposed by some Members were insufficient to ensure the protection of genetic resources as such arrangements depended on the voluntary behaviour and did not impose restrictions on third parties. Compared with the large quantity of genetic resources available in the world, information contained in databases and likely to be accessible to patent examiners before the granting of patents would be limited. The responsibility to respect a sovereign right over genetic resources should rely upon legal or natural persons who accessed or used the genetic resources and traditional knowledge at first hand.
5.7. She highly valued the on-going work in the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), but said that it should not prevent Members from seeking solutions in the WTO. She suggested that WIPO report to the Council on progress in the ICG in a timely manner. She also encouraged Members who had participated in the IGC to volunteer to brief the Council on on-going work. She supported Ecuador's proposal to ask the WTO Secretariat to update its notes on the three agenda items which would help Members have a good understanding and facilitate discussions. In addition, she suggested that consultations on this matter be conducted in a timely manner. She also encouraged Members to share national experiences and provide empirical studies to enable Members to have a good basis for further discussions.
