221. The European Union fosters transfer of technology in many sectors, including a large number that can be considered "environmentally rational". All of this technology is protected by IP rights and is shared or transferred in various ways, in accordance with the development level of the destination country. I would like to quote a few examples of ongoing projects and programmes:
222. I would like to inform you about some projects financed (and sometimes administered) by the European Commission, such as:
Water Infrastructure and Management Support in Puntland, Somalia This project promotes the economic development and good governance of water utilities to improve the sustainability of water resources in the area. The type of technology transferred includes:
• ICT technology: Administrative, managerial and financial knowledge;
• technical engineering knowledge for the maintenance and operations of an urban water supply network; and
• Hydrogeological knowledge for groundwater resource management.
Somalia benefits from another project entitled "Water and Land Information Management" with the objective of improved preparedness for, and effective response to, food and agricultural threats and emergencies. The type of technology transferred is:
• ICT training in GIS, remote sensing, data management;
• Provision of equipment including manual and automatic weather stations and borehole monitoring equipment including data loggers and piezometers:
This project will increase Somalia's authorities' capacity to monitor surface and ground water resources and land degradation.
223. The EU Development Cooperation Instrument financed between 2011-2012 (with 30m€) the Asia investment facility to promote additional investments and key infrastructure with a priority focus on climate change relevant and "green" technology in the environment and energy sectors.
224. The EU 7th Framework Programme funded the research project, AFRICAB, (4.11m€) is a framework for enhancing the Earth Observation capacity for agriculture and forest management in Africa. AGRICAB aims to build on open data sharing, connecting the available satellite and other data with predictive models in order to facilitate integration in agriculture and forestry planning and management processes.
225. In this context I would also like to mention some activities carried out by some EU member States:
FRANCE
A programme, sponsored by the French Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forests (MAAF)
which carries out actions that transfer know-how and technology in the following sectors: irrigation, certification and/or normalization of crops, veterinary services, geographical indications, product quality, sustainable agriculture and forestry management. The types of technology transferred are varied and include:
- Training of veterinary inspectors;
- technical training (crop growing, milk transformation, etc.);
- assistance in the setting up of control laboratories (sanitary, phyto-sanitary, fraud, etc.);
- standardization /certification of fruit, vegetables and seeds;
- sustainable forestry management, and
- development of geographical indications
226. The MAAF (Education and Research Department) also helps in the setting up rural trainings in agronomy (in the wide sense): rearing of cows, sheep, goats, aquaculture, crops, farming water management, etc.).
A wide range of technology is transferred such as:
• - water management for agriculture;
• - development of aquaculture;
• - training the trainers;
• - establishing technical agricultural trainings;
• - local development carried out by professional organizations;
• - environmental protection;
• - diversification techniques for agricultural products;
• - development of rural tourism;
• - transformation and conservation of food products; and
• - veterinary sciences and tropical zoology (parasitology, optimization of fodder, species selection and adaptation to local environment):
SLOVAKIA
Title of project/programme: St. Peter Claver Training Centre in Rumbek II, South Sudan. Technology is transferred to facilitate practical training in the area of electric and solar technologies, safe water resources and ecological water management.
Type of technology transferred: Irrigation scheme, water tanks, pumps, rainwater harvesting system, solar panels
SWEDEN
Name of the programme: Wind Power Development and Use, Energy Efficiency, and ICT for Pedagogical Development International Training Programmes. Its aim is to improve access to available techniques and industrial processes, training in the state of the art, technology management and production methods.
Type of technology transferred: Knowledge of various methods of central importance in developing wind power plants such as wind measurement, localization and design, demands on the infrastructure and the electric grid, environmental impact analysis, management, organization and economy of wind power plants, etc.
Knowledge of energy efficiency and its benefits for sustainable development and poverty reduction, as well as increased knowledge of methods and tools for energy efficiency.
250 participants have completed a full programme while 225 are currently taking the programmes. 65 to 80% of the participants come from least developed countries.
Name of the programme: DemoEnvironment: The programme is run by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth commissioned by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. The objective is to support environmental technology efforts to achieve sustainable urban development and renewable energy in developing countries.
Type of technology transferred: modern, environment-friendly technology and technology solutions never used in the host country before. Some of the countries which are part of this programme are China, India, Viet Nam, South African, Namibia, Botswana and Indonesia.
UNITED KINGDOM
Name of programme: Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund: A $180m fund which supports businesses operating in the agri-business sector in sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on renewable energy and climate adaptation for small farmers.
Type of technology transferred:
• Agricultural technology;
• financial services;
• media and other information services directly related to agribusiness and rural financial services; and
• renewable energy and climate adaptation technology.
227. The AECF is in its fourth year of operation. Since June 2008, 88 business initiatives in 18 countries have been approved for funding with a total investment of $66m. A further $160m has been committed to these 88 initiatives.
228. Without IP, there would be little new technology to improve our lives. IP is not a barrier to the protection or adaptation to the environment, rather it helps man's positive reaction to providing the best environment possible for future generations. The private sector in the EU is very instrumental in assisting other countries to benefit from state of the art technology, as you can see from the examples above and in the EU's annual reporting to the WTO in the context of Article 66.2 TRIPS.
229. On a more general note, however, I would like to reiterate that IP in itself is not a barrier to new technology nor to technology transfer. There are many other parts of the puzzle that need to be in place before industry (or research institutions) are willing or able to transfer or develop technology in a certain country.
230. Some of these other potential problems are the general investment climate in the destination country – a stable governance, working public authorities, a fair tax system, efficient protection and enforcement of IPR. In this context, one can also refer to the cost to business to register and protect its technology – where the tariffs are too high or the procedures slow and unpredictable, then industry and investors will be less inclined to invest.
231. Since Ecuador is instrumental in the subject of transfer of technology being discussed here on the TRIPS Council agenda, it may be useful to remind WTO Members of the new, extremely high tariffs Ecuador has installed for the registration and maintenance of patents and plant variety rights. Not only are the tariffs, in our understanding, the highest in the world, but a system of allowing up to 90% discounts for companies to produce locally, would appear to be discriminatory against foreign businesses and investors.
232. This kind of attitude which enormously impacts on the price of protecting IP is an example of how counterproductive this can be in the long term and will remove incentives from abroad for assistance and investment between countries.
