137. The representative of Canada informed the Council that his delegation had recently made a request for consultations with the European Communities pursuant to Article 4 of the DSU, Article 64 of the TRIPS Agreement and in conjunction with Article XXII of GATT 1994. It was requesting consultations regarding the protection of inventions in the area of pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products that the European Communities afforded in relation to their obligations under the TRIPS Agreement. The patent term extension scheme of the European Communities, in Canada's view, was incompatible with the obligation of the European Communities not to discriminate with respect to the field of technology as stipulated in Article 27.1 of the TRIPS Agreement, since the patent term extension scheme only applied to pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical inventions.
