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

Ambassador Choi Hyuck (Korea)
O TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING
305. The Chairman recalled that the Council had agreed, at its meeting in June 2005, to hold its annual review of technical cooperation at the present meeting. In preparation for this annual review, developed country Members had once more been requested to update information on their technical and financial cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement in time for this meeting. Other Members who had also made technical cooperation available were encouraged to share information on these activities if they so wished. The Secretariat had issued an airgram on 18 July (WTO/AIR/2628) reminding Members of this request. In addition, intergovernmental organization observers to the Council as well as the WTO Secretariat, had also been invited to provide information. 306. The Council had received information from the following developed country Members: Switzerland; Australia; Japan; Canada; New Zealand; Norway; and the European Communities and certain member States (Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) (being circulated in document IP/C/W/455 and addenda). Updated information had been obtained from the following intergovernmental organizations: the OECD, WHO, UPOV, and WIPO (document IP/C/W/456 and addenda). As regards the information received from WIPO, the document that had been circulated to Members contained only the three-page cover note to the communication. Further detailed information was contained in the annexes to this cover note, that amounted to some 550 pages. He said that these annexes were available for consultation at the WTO Secretariat, and could also be accessed through the WIPO website at the address indicated in the document. He said that he understood that most delegations had already received this information as part of the documentation of the September WIPO Assemblies. Updated information on the WTO Secretariat's technical cooperation activities in the TRIPS area could be found in document IP/C/W/454.
IP/C/M/49