Cablegate: Canada's Views On Proposed U.S. Trips Moratorium

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000007

SIPDIS

GENEVA FOR USTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD CA USTR
SUBJECT: CANADA'S VIEWS ON PROPOSED U.S. TRIPS MORATORIUM

REF: STATE 265619

1. Post delivered reftel letter from USTR Zoellick to
Minister for International Trade Pettigrew, with copies to
Minister of Foreign Affairs Graham and Minister of Health
McLellan. On December 30, Suzanne Vinet, Director General
for Service, Investment and Intellectual Property at the
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade called
to clarify some of the points in the letter.

2. Vinet was interested in whether the letter was to Canada
only, and wondered if we were asking other countries for
support of the moratorium. We explained that the letter had
been sent by Ambassador Zoellick to all his WTO counterparts.
Although we welcome support, we had only been asked to
provide host country reaction. The Canadian embassy in
Washington had already seen the proposal on the USTR website
and in "Inside US Trade." We clarified that although the
proposal is public, it would not be formally presented to the
WTO until early January. DG Vinet, who has only been in her
current job for two weeks and had not yet studied the
proposal, said she would consult within the GOC once
colleagues return from leave.
YOUNG

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