Compte rendu ‒ Conseil des ADPIC ‒ Afficher les détails de l'intervention/la déclaration

Ambassador Alfredo Suescum (Panama)
12 THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL'S HIGH LEVEL PANEL REPORT ON ACCESS TO MEDICINES
207. On 23 January 2017, the amended TRIPS Agreement entered into force. This is the very first amendment to WTO laws since the establishment of the WTO. China appreciates and welcomes it. China has always attached great attention to the issue of TRIPS and public health and believes that this amendment is helpful to secure a pathway to access to affordable medicines in the countries that lack medicine production capacity, and to overcome the public health difficulties in these countries. 208. Domestically, China has been using compulsory licensing, parallel imports and the Bolar exception which is permissible under TRIPS and the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health to promote access to medicines and secure public health. China's Patent Law and implementation regulation have specific provisions on compulsory licensing, which have been improved with the later amendments. In 2012, combining the related provisions, China issued the new detailed rules for compulsory licensing for easy operation. 209. The UN Secretary-General's High Level Panel Report on Access to Medicines gives various recommendations on promoting innovation, strengthening access to medicines, securing public health, which are of great value to the discussion on public health in the WTO. China notes that Members might have different views on the content and proposals in this Report, but still hopes that with this opportunity, Members could exchange views and experiences on how to take full advantage of the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement, and effectively address the public health issues.
The Council took note of the statements made.
63. The Chairman recalled that Brazil, China, India and South Africa had requested that this item be added to the agenda of the Council's meeting in November 2016. To introduce the item, they had also submitted a communication (document IP/C/W/619).

64. In the course of that discussion, the delegation of South Africa had requested that this item be continued as an ad hoc item at the next meeting and the Council so agreed.

65. Since this was a continuation of the discussion had held at the Council's meeting in November 2016, he briefly summarized what had been said at that meeting. According to the co sponsors, the request to add this item to the Council's agenda had been intended to facilitate an exchange of views on the recommendations of the High Level Panel, as well as to share national experiences regarding the use of TRIPS flexibilities. At the meeting in November 2016, some delegations had welcomed the discussion of the report in this Council while others had said that they needed more time to consider the recommendations. Some delegations had expressed concern about the narrow scope of the report and had noted that it had neither been mandated nor endorsed by Members of the United Nations.

66. The representatives of India; Bangladesh on behalf of the LDC Group; Brazil; South Africa; China; Indonesia; Nigeria on behalf of the African Group; Egypt; the United States; Japan; Canada; the Republic of Korea; Norway; the European Union; Switzerland; Australia; Chinese Taipei; and Chile took the floor.

67. The representative of the World Health Organization took the floor.

68. The Council took note of the statements made.

IP/C/M/85, IP/C/M/85/Add.1