222. The representative of the European Union said that the EU had played a significant role in helping LDCs to fulfil their TRIPS obligations, including countries that had not yet submitted their needs assessments. Regarding the seven Members who had done so, the EU was in contact or had recently been in contact with all of them. The EU had funded technical assistance with Bangladesh, Uganda and Zambia. The EU had recently conducted two programmes in Uganda, the first one on strengthening public-private dialogue to update Uganda's national IP policy legal and regulatory framework, a programme that had been developed between 2008 and 2011; and the second on technical assistance to the Uganda Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry in the area of IPRs in 2009.
223. The EU had recently offered assistance on IP technical cooperation and capacity building to Senegal and Sierra Leone. Also regional work had been funded, including with COMESA, OAPI and ARIPO. Furthermore, the EU had funded assistance in the ACP countries and overseas territories through the European Development Fund. He also mentioned economic partnership agreement components within the European Development Fund, such as with the Eastern African Community Support Programme; these programmes had been used to provide IP-specific assistance. Further details on these programmes were available in document IP/C/W/582/Add.7.
