INTRODUCTION

On 19 December 1997, the European Communities and their member States requested Canada to hold consultations pursuant to Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) and Article 64 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) regarding the protection of inventions in the area of pharmaceuticals under the relevant provisions of the Canadian implementing legislation (in particular the Patent Act) in relation to its obligations under the TRIPS Agreement (WT/DS114/1). No mutually satisfactory solution was reached in these consultations, held on 13 February 1998 and 12 June 1998. The European Communities and their member States requested the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), in a communication dated 11 November 1998, to establish a panel to examine the matter (WT/DS114/5). At its meeting of 1 February 1999, the DSB agreed to establish a panel with standard terms of reference in accordance with Article 6 of the DSU. Australia, Brazil, Columbia, Cuba, India, Israel, Japan, Poland, Switzerland, Thailand and the United States reserved third party rights.

In document WT/DS114/6 of 29 March 1999, the DSB was informed of the terms of reference and the composition of the Panel. Due to the absence of agreement between the parties to the dispute on the composition of the Panel, the composition of the Panel was determined by the Director-General pursuant to Article 8.7 of the DSU.

The Panel heard the parties to the dispute on 9-10 June and 15 July 1999. The interim report was issued to the parties on 21 January 2000. Both parties requested the Panel to review parts of the interim report. While neither party requested in its comments on the interim report a further meeting with the Panel, Canada did request that it be granted an opportunity to comment on the submission of the European Communities.