20. The representative of the United States agreed with the delegation of Switzerland that the most important issue for the TRIPS Council in its early days of operation was to decide what its needs were. In that respect, the question of notification procedures was of primary importance. As others had mentioned, technical assistance was an important issue as well. The notification requirements under the Agreement could be very substantial and, while some discussion on this had already taken place in the Contact Group, more discussion was necessary. Before determining WIPO's possible rôle in this respect, the TRIPS Council first had to take some basic decisions on the content of notification requirements.
