Ms Irene Young (Hong Kong, China)

Brésil

3; 4; 5 REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 27.3(B); RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY; PROTECTION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE

32. Brazil has a well-known position regarding the importance of promoting the neutral support between the TRIPS Agreement and the CBD. 33. As for many delegations that intervened before me, we believe that the introduction in the TRIPS Agreement of a mandatory requirement for the disclosure of the origin of these resources in patent applications would enhance the transparency regarding the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. 34. At the national level, Brazil has updated its legislation on the regulation of the access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, in which the principles of access and benefit sharing, as well as informed participation of the indigenous communities, are duly respected. The process for obtaining authorization was designed with the view of keeping efficiency and reducing paperwork, offering a fully electronic system for private parties that wish to request authorization. 35. The need for action is urgent. In spite of national efforts, biopiracy and misappropriation of traditional knowledge continue to occur. An amendment of the TRIPS Agreement would ensure cooperation between countries, reduce uncertainty for stakeholders and curb illegal activities related to the matter. An implementation in the IP system of international rules aimed at the protection of biodiversity is feasible and will reinforce the view that IP rules can work for the benefit of all countries and stakeholders. As previously mentioned by China, the database solution proposed by some delegations would fail to offer the full protection necessary for curbing biopiracy. We hope to see the necessary measures to prevent biopiracy reflected in the TRIPS Agreement. 36. We would also like to emphasize the importance of the request that the CBD Secretariat brief this Council on the developments in the Nagoya Protocol adopted in the recent past. The information provided during this briefing would be of benefit for us all, so we hope that there is agreement on this point soon. We therefore support the suggestion made by China and South Africa for inviting the CBD Secretariat to brief us here at the TRIPS Council. We also support the update of the three technical notes on the matter, considering the many developments that occurred at the international level since they were produced.

The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matters at its next meeting.

15. The Chairperson said that, as foreshadowed at the Council's meeting in June, she had consulted Members to see if solutions could be found to some procedural issues, which had been discussed at that meeting. While those discussions had helped clarify certain issues, she was still not in a position to report any new development in delegations' positions.

16. Regarding agenda item 3, she noted that the Council had not been provided information on important developments that many WTO Members had seen in this area over the last decade. In particular, there had been no responses or updates, since 2003, to the Illustrative List of Questions on Article 27.3(b) (IP/C/W/122), and only 25 Members had responded at all. Likewise, there had been no notifications of domestic mechanisms to protect genetic resources and traditional knowledge. She encouraged Members to submit responses to the Checklist or update their respective previous responses, and notify any relevant changes in their legislation.

17. The representatives of China; South Africa; Ecuador; Brazil; the Plurinational State of Bolivia; Haiti on behalf of the LDC Group; the United States; Japan; the European Union; Canada; Australia; Switzerland; India; and the Republic of Korea took the floor.

18. The Chairperson encouraged Members to have further discussions to resolve the outstanding issues, and said that she stood ready to assist.

19. The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matters at its next meeting.

IP/C/M/87, IP/C/M/87/Add.1