TRIPS: SPECIAL COMPULSORY LICENCES FOR EXPORT OF MEDICINES

Model notifications for the use of the Paragraph 6 system

The following model notifications are provided for illustrative purposes only, as an aid to technical assistance, and are prepared without prejudice to WTO members’ rights and obligations under the WTO agreements. As illustrative guides to what is to be notified, they do not have any legal or procedural status.

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Model 1: Importing Member's General Notification of Intent to Use

  

Reference for this notification
See paragraph 1(b) of the 2003 Decision (WTO document WT/L/540 and Corr.1).

Notes to Model 1

This one-off notification confirms in general that a member intends to use the Paragraph 6 System as an importer.

Who needs to make the importing member’s general notification?

 Least-developed countries are automatically entitled to use the Paragraph 6 System as importing members and need not make a general notification of intent to use it.

   Developed country members have opted not to use the Paragraph 6 System to import medicines, so cannot make this or any other importing member’s notification.

    Others — developing country members who wish to use the Paragraph 6 System to import medicines need only make this general notification once.

When to notify?
A WTO member can make this notification at any time prior to its first concrete use of the System as an importer, or at the same time as it first notifies specific needs under the system (see Model 2). No notification is needed to import pharmaceutical products from another member party to a regional trade agreement under the regional mechanism (see paragraph 6 of the 2003 Decision — WTO document WT/L/540 and Corr.1).

Making this general notification does not commit a member actually to use the system — it simply confirms a broad intent potentially to use it in the future.

Who has said they intend to use the System only in a limited way?
Eligible members are entitled to notify their intent to use the system ‘in whole or in a limited way’. When the System was set up, several members stated that they would only use it in situations of national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency: these are Hong Kong, China; Israel; Republic of Korea; Kuwait; Macao, China; Mexico; Qatar; Singapore; Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu; Turkey; and United Arab Emirates (see Chairman's statement read out when the System was set up (WTO document WT/GC/M/82, paragraph 29)). There is no obligation to notify this or any other kind of limitation, and so it is only shown as ‘OPTION’ in the model notification.