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Document JOL_2007_311_R_0035_01
2007/768/EC: Council Decision of 19 November 2007 on the acceptance, on behalf of the European Community, of the Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement, done at Geneva on 6 December 2005# Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement
2007/768/EC: Council Decision of 19 November 2007 on the acceptance, on behalf of the European Community, of the Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement, done at Geneva on 6 December 2005
Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement
2007/768/EC: Council Decision of 19 November 2007 on the acceptance, on behalf of the European Community, of the Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement, done at Geneva on 6 December 2005
Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement
OJ L 311, 29.11.2007, p. 35–41
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
29.11.2007 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
L 311/35 |
COUNCIL DECISION
of 19 November 2007
on the acceptance, on behalf of the European Community, of the Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement, done at Geneva on 6 December 2005
(2007/768/EC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 133(5) in conjunction with the first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 300(2) and the second subparagraph of Article 300(3) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the assent of the European Parliament (1),
Whereas:
(1) |
On 14 November 2001 at Doha, the Fourth Session of the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (hereinafter referred to as the WTO) adopted the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (WTO doc. WT/MIN(01)/DEC/2). |
(2) |
Paragraph 6 of that Declaration instructed the Council for TRIPS to find an expeditious solution to the problem of the difficulties that WTO Members with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector could face in making effective use of compulsory licensing under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (hereinafter referred to as the TRIPS Agreement). |
(3) |
On 30 August 2003, the WTO General Council adopted a temporary Decision on the implementation of paragraph 6 of the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. |
(4) |
Paragraph 11 of that Decision provides that that Decision, including the waivers granted in it, is to terminate for each Member on the date on which an amendment to the TRIPS Agreement replacing its provisions takes effect for that Member. |
(5) |
On 6 December 2005, in order to transform the 30 August 2003 Decision into an amendment of the TRIPS Agreement, the WTO General Council adopted a Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement and submitted it to the Members of the WTO for acceptance. |
(6) |
Paragraph 3 of the Protocol provides that the Protocol is to be open for acceptance by Members until 1 December 2007 or such later date as may be decided by the Ministerial Conference. |
(7) |
The Commission participated, on behalf of the Community, in the negotiation of the Protocol. |
(8) |
In accordance with Article 133(5) of the Treaty, the Community is competent to conclude agreements in the field of commercial aspects of intellectual property. |
(9) |
The Protocol should be accepted on behalf of the Community. |
(10) |
In its instrument of acceptance, the Community should also confirm, in accordance with Article 300(7) of the Treaty, that the Protocol will be binding on its Member States, |
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
The Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement, done at Geneva on 6 December 2005, is hereby accepted on behalf of the Community.
The text of the Protocol is attached to this Decision.
Article 2
The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person empowered to deposit the instrument of acceptance of the Protocol with the Director-General of the WTO.
Article 3
In its instrument of acceptance, the Community shall confirm, in accordance with Article 300(7) of the Treaty, that the Protocol will be binding on its Member States.
Done at Brussels, 19 November 2007.
For the Council
The President
L. AMADO
(1) Assent of 24 October 2007 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
PROTOCOL
amending the TRIPS Agreement
MEMBERS OF THE WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION;
HAVING REGARD to the Decision of the General Council in document WT/L/641, adopted pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article X of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation (‘the WTO Agreement’),
HEREBY AGREE AS FOLLOWS:
1. |
The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the ‘TRIPS Agreement’) shall, upon the entry into force of the Protocol pursuant to paragraph 4, be amended as set out in the Annex to this Protocol, by inserting Article 31bis after Article 31 and by inserting the Annex to the TRIPS Agreement after Article 73. |
2. |
Reservations may not be entered in respect of any of the provisions of this Protocol without the consent of the other Members. |
3. |
This Protocol shall be open for acceptance by Members until 1 December 2007 or such later date as may be decided by the Ministerial Conference. |
4. |
This Protocol shall enter into force in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article X of the WTO Agreement. |
5. |
This Protocol shall be deposited with the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation who shall promptly furnish to each Member a certified copy thereof and a notification of each acceptance thereof pursuant to paragraph 3. |
6. |
This Protocol shall be registered in accordance with the provisions of Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations. |
Done at Geneva this sixth day of December two thousand and five, in a single copy in the English, French and Spanish languages, each text being authentic.
ANNEX TO THE PROTOCOL AMENDING THE TRIPS AGREEMENT
Article 31bis
1. The obligations of an exporting Member under Article 31(f) shall not apply with respect to the grant by it of a compulsory licence to the extent necessary for the purposes of production of a pharmaceutical product(s) and its export to an eligible importing Member(s) in accordance with the terms set out in paragraph 2 of the Annex to this Agreement.
2. Where a compulsory licence is granted by an exporting Member under the system set out in this Article and the Annex to this Agreement, adequate remuneration pursuant to Article 31(h) shall be paid in that Member taking into account the economic value to the importing Member of the use that has been authorised in the exporting Member. Where a compulsory licence is granted for the same products in the eligible importing Member, the obligation of that Member under Article 31(h) shall not apply in respect of those products for which remuneration in accordance with the first sentence of this paragraph is paid in the exporting Member.
3. With a view to harnessing economies of scale for the purposes of enhancing purchasing power for, and facilitating the local production of, pharmaceutical products: where a developing or least-developed country WTO Member is a party to a regional trade agreement within the meaning of Article XXIV of the GATT 1994 and the Decision of 28 November 1979 on Differential and More Favourable Treatment Reciprocity and Fuller Participation of Developing Countries (L/4903), at least half of the current membership of which is made up of countries presently on the United Nations list of least-developed countries, the obligation of that Member under Article 31(f) shall not apply to the extent necessary to enable a pharmaceutical product produced or imported under a compulsory licence in that Member to be exported to the markets of those other developing or least-developed country parties to the regional trade agreement that share the health problem in question. It is understood that this will not prejudice the territorial nature of the patent rights in question.
4. Members shall not challenge any measures taken in conformity with the provisions of this Article and the Annex to this Agreement under subparagraphs 1(b) and 1(c) of Article XXIII of GATT 1994.
5. This Article and the Annex to this Agreement are without prejudice to the rights, obligations and flexibilities that Members have under the provisions of this Agreement other than paragraphs (f) and (h) of Article 31, including those reaffirmed by the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (WT/MIN(01)/DEC/2), and to their interpretation. They are also without prejudice to the extent to which pharmaceutical products produced under a compulsory licence can be exported under the provisions of Article 31(f).
ANNEX TO THE TRIPS AGREEMENT
1. |
For the purposes of Article 31bis and this Annex:
|
2. |
The terms referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 31bis are that:
|
3. |
In order to ensure that the products imported under the system are used for the public health purposes underlying their importation, eligible importing Members shall take reasonable measures within their means, proportionate to their administrative capacities and to the risk of trade diversion to prevent re-exportation of the products that have actually been imported into their territories under the system. In the event that an eligible importing Member that is a developing country Member or a least-developed country Member experiences difficulty in implementing this provision, developed country Members shall provide, on request and on mutually agreed terms and conditions, technical and financial cooperation in order to facilitate its implementation. |
4. |
Members shall ensure the availability of effective legal means to prevent the importation into, and sale in, their territories of products produced under the system and diverted to their markets inconsistently with its provisions, using the means already required to be available under this Agreement. If any Member considers that such measures are proving insufficient for this purpose, the matter may be reviewed in the Council for TRIPS at the request of that Member. |
5. |
With a view to harnessing economies of scale for the purposes of enhancing purchasing power for, and facilitating the local production of, pharmaceutical products, it is recognised that the development of systems providing for the grant of regional patents to be applicable in the Members described in paragraph 3 of Article 31bis should be promoted. To this end, developed country Members undertake to provide technical cooperation in accordance with Article 67 of this Agreement, including in conjunction with other relevant intergovernmental organisations. |
6. |
Members recognise the desirability of promoting the transfer of technology and capacity building in the pharmaceutical sector in order to overcome the problem faced by Members with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector. To this end, eligible importing Members and exporting Members are encouraged to use the system in a way which would promote this objective. Members undertake to cooperate in paying special attention to the transfer of technology and capacity building in the pharmaceutical sector in the work to be undertaken pursuant to Article 66.2 of this Agreement, paragraph 7 of the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health and any other relevant work of the Council for TRIPS. |
7. |
The Council for TRIPS shall review annually the functioning of the system with a view to ensuring its effective operation and shall annually report on its operation to the General Council. |
APPENDIX TO THE ANNEX TO THE TRIPS AGREEMENT
Assessment of manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector
Least-developed country Members are deemed to have insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector.
For other eligible importing Members insufficient or no manufacturing capacities for the product(s) in question may be established in either of the following ways:
(i) |
the Member in question has established that it has no manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector, or |
(ii) |
where the Member has some manufacturing capacity in this sector, it has examined this capacity and found that, excluding any capacity owned or controlled by the patent owner, it is currently insufficient for the purposes of meeting its needs. When it is established that such capacity has become sufficient to meet the Member’s needs, the system shall no longer apply. |
(1) This subparagraph is without prejudice to subparagraph 1(b).
(2) It is understood that this notification does not need to be approved by a WTO body in order to use the system.
(3) Australia, Canada, the European Communities with, for the purposes of Article 31bis and this Annex, its Member States, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, and the United States.
(4) Joint notifications providing the information required under this subparagraph may be made by the regional organisations referred to in paragraph 3 of Article 31bis on behalf of eligible importing Members using the system that are parties to them, with the agreement of those parties.
(5) The notification will be made available publicly by the WTO Secretariat through a page on the WTO website dedicated to the system.
(6) This subparagraph is without prejudice to Article 66.1 of this Agreement.
(7) The licensee may use for this purpose its own website or, with the assistance of the WTO Secretariat, the page on the WTO website dedicated to the system.
(8) It is understood that this notification does not need to be approved by a WTO body in order to use the system.
(9) The notification will be made available publicly by the WTO Secretariat through a page on the WTO website dedicated to the system.