[Ip-health] CHOREOGRAPHY FOR ADOPTION OF THE DECISION ON THE AMENDMENT on TRIPS and Public Health

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

As part of a "Permanent Solution" to amend the TRIPS Agreement to permit
the export of medicines produced under a compulsory licence to countries
with insufficient or no pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, WTO
Members are expected to adopted the following "choreography" of 9 steps
tomorrow which would pave the way for the adoption of the Decision on
the Amendment.


Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
CPTech


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4 December 2005

CHOREOGRAPHY FOR ADOPTION OF THE DECISION ON THE AMENDMENT


1.     The Council for TRIPS would agree, without other statements
before or after its agreement, to forward a proposal to the General
Council containing the draft Decision on the Amendment and the text of
the Statement to be read out by the Chairman of the General Council
prior to the adoption of the Decision by the General Council.


2.      The proposal would be introduced in the General Council by the
Chairman of the Council for TRIPS

3.  Representatives of the 11 partial opt-out Members would then make
statements in the General regarding their intention to use the systeme
as an importer only in situations of national emergency or other
circumstances of extreme urgency.  If they do not make such a statement,
it would be expected that they would have sent a letter in advance to
this effect.

4.      The Chair of the General Council would then state that "it is
understood that paragraph 4 of Article 31bis in the proposed amendment
is without prejudice to the overall question of the applicability of
subparagraphs 1(b) and 1(c) Article XXIII of GATT 1994 to the TRIPS
Agreement and to the different positions of Members on this subject".

5.     The Chair of the General Council would then read out the
Chairman's Statement.

6.       The Chair of the General Council would then propose that the
General Council take note of the statments and, in the light of the
Chairman's Statement she had just read out, adopt the draft decision.

7.      The General Council would then so agree.

8.      The Chair of the General Council would then state that Members
have asker her to state, on their behalf, that Members reaffirm the
statements they made after the adoption of the General Council Decision
of 30 August 2003, and propose that the General Council consider this
done.  The General Council would then so agree.

9.      No further statements would be made and the meeting would be closed.