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Eligibility: Paragraph 1(b) back to top
If a country wants to be an “eligible
importing member” under the “Paragraph 6” system it has to notify the
TRIPS Council that it intends to use the system as an importer — unless
it is a least-developed country, in which case no such notification is
needed. The relevant provisions are in Paragraph 1(b) of both the 2003
decision and 2005 protocol.
The provisions clarify that members may notify
at any time and may state that they will use the system in whole or in a
limited way, for example only in a national emergency or other
circumstances of extreme urgency.
Some members have agreed not to use the system
as importers, and some others have said that if they use the system it
would only be in national emergencies or other extremely urgent
circumstances. Details can be found in the text of the
2003 and 2005
statements read out by the General Council chairs when the council
adopted the 2003 decision and 2005 protocol.
The status of notifications made under
paragraph 1(b) will be kept up to date in a TRIPS document accessible
from this page.
No notifications have been made so far.
Details to be notified each time:
Paragraph 2(a) back to top
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View notifications
When an eligible importing country wants to
import it has to notify certain details to the TRIPS Council each time.
These details are:
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(i) the names and expected quantities of the product(s) needed;
(ii) confirmation that the eligible importing member in question — other
than a least developed country Member — has established that it has
insufficient or no manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector
for the product(s) in question in one of the ways set out in the Annex
to the Decision; and
(iii) where a pharmaceutical product is patented in the member’s
territory, confirmation that it has granted or intends to grant a
compulsory licence in accordance with Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement
and the provisions of the decision.
The relevant provisions are in Paragraph 2(a) of both the 2003 decision
and of the 2005 protocol.
These notifications have to be made available publicly by the WTO
Secretariat through a dedicated page on the WTO website.
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