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

Ambassador Karen Tan (Singapore)
K SEVENTH ANNUAL REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE DECISION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 66.2 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT
159. The Chairperson recalled that, at its meeting in February 2003, the Council had adopted a decision on the "Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement". Paragraph 1 of the Decision provided that developed country Members should submit reports annually on actions taken or planned in pursuance of their commitments under Article 66.2. To this end, they were to provide new detailed reports every third year and, in the intervening years, provide updates to their most recent reports. These reports were to be submitted prior to the last Council meeting scheduled for the year in question. She said that the second set of detailed annual reports under the Decision had been presented to the Council's meeting in October 2006. At its meeting in June 2009, the Council had requested developed country Members to submit a third set of new detailed reports on actions they had taken or planned in pursuance of their commitments under Article 66.2 for the present meeting. 160. The Council had received new detailed reports from the following developed country Members: Japan, the United States, Australia, Switzerland, Norway, Canada and New Zealand (being circulated in document IP/C/W/536 and addenda). 161. As regards the purpose and conduct of the review of this information, she recalled that paragraph 2 of the Decision on the Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement explained that the annual review meetings should provide Members with an opportunity to pose questions in relation to the information submitted and request additional information; discuss the effectiveness of the incentives provided in promoting and encouraging technology transfer to least developed country Members in order to enable them to create a sound and viable technological base; and consider any points relating to the operation of the reporting procedure established by the Decision. 162. She said that, since some of the information had only been received very recently and most of it was available only in its original language, she intended to provide an opportunity at the next meeting for Members to make further comments on the information submitted for the present meeting that they might not yet have been able to study, and on any further information that might be provided before the next meeting. 163. Furthermore, she recalled that the Secretariat had organized in 2008, at the request of the delegation of Lesotho on behalf of the LDC Group, a workshop on transfer of technology under Article 66.2 back to back with the Council's end of year meeting. At that meeting, the representative of Lesotho had expressed his appreciation of the event and requested that the Secretariat organize another workshop during the current year. Pursuant to this request, the Secretariat had organized the day before the current meeting another workshop that had brought together LDC and developed country experts to discuss transfer of technology under Article 66.2
IP/C/M/61