77. The Chairperson said that, at its meeting of 10 December 1997, the General Council had agreed that its report to the Ministerial Conference would consist of the 1997 Annual Reports of the General Council and its subsidiary bodies together with a brief update report of the General Council concerning developments in the first months of 1998, and that Chairs of subsidiary bodies would be invited to report orally to the General Council on work done since December 1997. The next meeting of the Council for TRIPS would not take place until one week before the Ministerial, and the meeting of the General Council where Chairs of subsidiary bodies would be invited to report orally had been scheduled prior to the meeting of the TRIPS Council. Therefore, the oral reporting of the Chair of this Council could only cover work done at the present meeting. If the Council would so agree, the Chair could draft such an oral presentation. While it would be presented on the Chair's own responsibility, it would be circulated to Members for comments in advance.
