By a presidential ordinance of February 4, 1997, Pakistan has complied with its obligations under Article 70.8 of the TRIPS Agreement to provide for the filing of patent applications relating to chemical products intended to be used in medicine and agriculture. No patents on such subject matter can be granted before January 1, 2005. However, such applications may now be filed and a valid filing date secured even though no examination will be undertaken before January 1, 2005. In the meantime provision is made for a period of marketing exclusivity as long as a patent application for the product has been filed in Pakistan, and the applicant has secured both a patent and marketing approval for the product in question in another WTO member country. The period of marketing exclusivity is five years from the grant of marketing approval in Pakistan or up to the grant of a Pakistani patent, whichever is the sooner. The ordinance has a retroactive effect to all patent applications filed after January 1, 1995, this being the date on which the TRIPS Agreement came into force.