59. The representative of Hong Kong recalled that, at the TRIPS Council meeting of 9 May 1996, it had been agreed that this review would apply to the copyright and related rights legislation of Members obliged to comply with the Agreement under Article 65.1, as well as of any other Members not still availing themselves of a transitional period under Article 65.2 in respect of this area of legislation. He said that Hong Kong was not in either of these categories. Therefore, he had proceeded on the basis that Hong Kong was not subject to this review and was not in a position to answer any questions at this meeting. Furthermore, while he respected the United States view that there was not a defined list of which countries should be regarded as developed or developing, his delegation believed that developing status in the WTO had traditionally been determined on the basis of self-election. However, he did not believe that the Council for TRIPS was the right forum to discuss this matter. Without prejudice to Hong Kong's position, he informed the Council that Hong Kong was in the process of revising its copyright laws in order to make them fully consistent with the TRIPS Agreement well within the transitional period permitted under Article 65.2. He would be happy to discuss with any delegation bilaterally and informally any queries on Hong Kong's copyright legislation. Since Hong Kong's legislation was in the course of review, such discussions would be most productive when this work would have been finalized, which would hopefully be by the end of this year.
