Annual report (2023) of the council for trips

1  GENERAL

1.  Since the period covered by its 2022 report^[1], the Council for TRIPS resumed and concluded its formal meeting of 12-13 October 2022 on 15-16 December 2022 and held formal meetings on 16‑17 March, 14-15 June and 30-31 October 2023. The minutes of these meetings are found in documents _IP/C/M/106, _IP/C/M/106/Add.1, _IP/C/M/107, _IP/C/M/107/Add.1, _IP/C/M/108, _IP/C/M/108/Add.1, _IP/C/M/109 and _IP/C/M/109/Add.1.^[2] Informal meetings were held on 22 November and 6 December 2022, and 8 June and 9 October 2023. An informal thematic session for external stakeholder input was held on 28 September 2023.

2.  The formal and informal meetings held from November 2022 to March 2023 were chaired by Ambassador Dr Lansana Gberie (Sierra Leone). The remaining meetings were chaired by Ambassador Pimchanok Pitfield (Thailand).

3.  The meetings of the Council were open to all WTO Members, other governments with observer status in WTO bodies and certain international intergovernmental organizations granted observer status in the Council. The Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations (UN), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the World Bank (WB), the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) enjoy regular observer status in the TRIPS Council. The World Health Organization (WHO) has ad hoc observer status in the Council. At its meeting in March 2002, the Council agreed to a request from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) for observer status during the Council's discussions on the TRIPS Agreement and public health at that and future meetings. At its meeting in November 2012, the Council agreed to grant ad hoc observer status on a meeting-by-meeting basis to the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Pursuant to this decision, EFTA was invited to attend each formal meeting on an ad hoc basis. Decisions on requests for observer status from 13 other organizations are pending.^[3]