Ms Irene Young (Hong Kong, China)

Brésil

14 OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

345. Brazil supports the approval of the request from the South Centre and the CBD as a matter of priority. The South Centre is an organization that provides imports to the developing countries in the course of their activities in Geneva. They combine their efforts and expertise to promote common interest with the developing countries in the international arena. The South Centre encourages developing countries to value and to provide intellectual policy support for them to act collectively and individually, particularly in the international level. The organization has an observer status in several international organizations; in the WTO it is an observer to the Committee on Trade and Development. Its first request dates back to 1999. It would contribute to a more meaningful participation of the developing countries in TRIPS discussions without in any way harming the interest of other Members. 346. Regarding the CBD, it is an agreement ratified by as many as 196 parties that represents a dramatic step forward in the conservation of biological diversity. Like other permanent observers to the TRIPS Council the CBD is directly implicated in a number of items of the TRIPS Council's permanent agenda. A specific adding regarding relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the CBD is part of the Agenda for every TRIPS Council meeting. Those questions could greatly benefit from the participation of the CBD Secretariat as an observer. To reiterate our view that decisions should be made as a matter of priority. We find a delegation currently opposing it to present reasoning behind its opposition what has not occurred so far.

The Council so agreed.

42. The Chairperson recalled that there were still 13 pending requests by intergovernmental organizations for observer status in the Council for TRIPS. The list was up-to-date¹³ and information provided by all 13 intergovernmental organizations was available on the Members' website. She urged Members to consider the requests on their individual merits, and in particular according to the competence and interest that the requesting entity has in matters dealt with by the Council for TRIPS.

43. The delegations of India; South Africa; the United States; Ecuador; Indonesia; Brazil; Egypt; the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; and China took the floor.

44. The Chairperson proposed that, since it had not been possible to reach an agreement to grant permanent observer status to ARIPO, OAPI, GCC and EFTA, the Council should again invite these four organizations to attend its next meeting on an ad hoc basis. This would be in line with the agreement reached at the Council's meetings in June 2010 and November 2012 on granting ad hoc observer status to these organizations on a meeting-by-meeting basis.

45. The Council so agreed.

IP/C/M/86, IP/C/M/86/Add.1