H.E. Ambassador Dr. Walter Werner

Senegal

9   FOLLOW-UP TO THE SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE DECISION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 66.2 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT

124.   Senegal would like to join the LDC coordinator in thanking the WTO Secretariat for organizing the Workshop on the Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. 125.   This workshop, which brought together LDC delegates (both capital and Geneva-based) and delegates from developed country Members that had submitted reports, provided a good forum for discussion on the relevance and effectiveness of technology transfer under Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. It enabled LDCs to indicate the priority areas for technology transfer, to report on the results of the implementation of technology transfer projects and to make recommendations on the steps to take to improve the evaluation process. 126.   The recommendations made include the following: a. The setting up of focal points at LDC and developed country Members level in order to coordinate and report on the incentives provided by developed country Members to enterprises and institutions in their territories for the purpose of promoting technology transfer to LDCs, and the results achieved in LDCs. b. Ensuring the compatibility of technology transfer projects with the needs and priorities expressed by LDCs. 127.   Improving reports so as to make them more specific and consistent with the letter and spirit of Article 66.2. 128.   We hope that all the recommendations emanating from the workshop will help to improve the review under paragraph 2 of the decision on implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. In this respect, Senegal encourages the Secretariat to pursue this initiative further in the context of the Council's future work. 129.   Lastly, Senegal wishes to thank the developed country Members for their reports.

28.   The Chair recalled that, at the previous meeting in November 2018, the Council had on its agenda the Sixteenth Annual Review under Paragraph 2 of the Decision on the Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. At that meeting, delegations had briefly presented the reports submitted by developed country Members under Article 66.2(IP/C/W/646 and Addenda) as well as a proposal by the LDC Group entitled "Proposal on the Implementation of Article 66 of the TRIPS Agreement" (IP/C/W/640 and IP/RD/24). The Council had agreed that it would revert to the item at its next meeting to permit continued consideration of the submitted material.
29.   In order to give LDCs more time to absorb the information provided by developed countries in their reports, and also to ensure that those reports were available in the official languages of the WTO, the Article 66.2 Workshop, which would have usually been held in November 2018, had been postponed. The Workshop had taken place in the two days preceding the meeting of the Council. Some of the capital-based delegates, who had participated in that Workshop would participate in the discussions under this agenda item. He invited delegations to comment on the materials that had been submitted for the meeting that had taken place in November 2018 and to share their experiences from the Article 66.2 Workshop.
30.   The representatives of Chad, on behalf of the LDC Group, the Central African Republic, Senegal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Vanuatu, Japan, Australia, Switzerland, the United States of America, Norway, New Zealand, the European Union, Canada and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) took the floor.

IP/C/M/91, IP/C/M/91/Add.1, IP/C/M/91/Corr.1