Minutes - TRIPS Council - View details of the intervention/statement

H.E. Ambassador Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter (South Africa)
Chad on behalf of LDC Group
12 TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING

437.   Regarding technical cooperation and capacity building, we have followed closely our peers in developing countries and other Members who have taken the floor on these important issues. It is true that both technical assistance and capacity building are very important tools. If a country does not have the appropriate infrastructure or human capital, it would be difficult to make progress or achieve one's goals despite one's best efforts or intentions. As the United Kingdom and others have already underscored, the LDCs consider that technical cooperation and capacity building are crucial to achieving sustainable development, especially for LDCs in these extremely difficult and particular circumstances where certain activities have been suspended. Our delegates who should have travelled from the capitals have not been able to do so due to the pandemic and so capacity building has been curbed, which impacts on our development and our projects. 438.   The LDCs are requesting that the resources allocated to the Secretariat for capacity building and technical assistance be increased in order to meet the growing needs of Members, in particular those of LDCs. 439.   The various technical assistance and capacity building programmes help us not only to comply with our obligations but also to make full use of our rights within the multilateral trading system, to continue to participate actively in multilateral trade negotiations and to create new possibilities for economic growth and development. 440.   In conclusion, the LDCs wish to thank the Members for their continued support, which is extremely necessary, useful and important.

The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting.
64. The Chair recalled that, at its July 2020 meeting, the Council had agreed to hold the annual review of technical cooperation at its next meeting. Thus, developed country Members had been requested to update information on their technical and financial cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. Other Members, which also provided technical cooperation were encouraged to share information on their activities. The Secretariat had issued a reminder. Intergovernmental organizations, observers to the Council and the WTO Secretariat had also been invited to provide information.
65. The Council had received information from: Japan, Switzerland, Australia, United States, the United Kingdom, and Norway. Since the circulation of the revised agenda, the Council had received further information from the European Union. These reports were being circulated under the new dedicated document series with the symbol IP/C/R/TC/[Member]/1 – where "R" stands for "Reports" and "TC" stands for "Technical Cooperation". The following intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) had also submitted updated information: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), World Health Organization (WHO), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). Their reports were being circulated in the same document series IP/C/R/TC/[IGO observer]/1. Information on the WTO Secretariat's own technical cooperation activities in the TRIPS area could be found in document . She invited Members to introduce their reports.
66. The representatives of the United States of America; the United Kingdom; Japan; Australia; Canada; the European Union; Bangladesh; Switzerland; Brazil; Chad, on behalf of the LDC Group; Mali; and South Africa took the floor.
67. The Chair invited the WTO Secretariat to present its report on technical cooperation activities.
68. The representative of the Secretariat took the floor.
69. The Chair invited the representatives of IGO observers to present their reports on technical cooperation activities.
70. The representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); World Health Organization (WHO); and the United National Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) took the floor.
71. The Chair invited Members to comment.
72. The representatives of Sri Lanka; Chad, on behalf of the LDC Group; and India took the floor.
73. The Chair thanked Members and IGO observers for the valuable information. As some information had been recently submitted and was available only in its original language, she would provide Members an opportunity to make further comments, at the next meeting.
74. The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting.
IP/C/M/96, IP/C/M/96/Add.1