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

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1. Meeting date

2. Chairperson

H.E. Ambassador Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter

3. Intervention by

Bangladesh on behalf of LDC Group

4. Agenda item

12 LDC GROUP PROPOSAL ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 66.2 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT

5. Statement/summary of statement

  1. On this agenda item, the delegation of Bangladesh makes this statement on behalf of the LDC Group. For time constraint, I am not going into the detail for which I particularly refer to the information provided by Chad and Bangladesh at the TRIPS Council on 6 February 2020.
  2. LDCs always appreciate the contributions of developed country Members and their annual implementation reports under TRIPS Article 66.2. However, many reports do not clearly give information on incentives provided to enterprises and institutions in the territory of the developed country Members. Instead, these reports contain a mixture of technical assistance programmes under Article 67 and a few technology transfer initiatives under TRIPS Article 66.2.
  3. The LDC Group's proposal contained in document IP/C/W/664 contains a template for annual reporting under TRIPS Article 66.2. This may be noted that the proposal is built on the room document RD/IP/37 circulated on 5 February 2020, which was basically developed from Members' feedback. In this regard, the LDC Group acknowledges the contribution of the participating delegates, from the LDC and developed country Members, and their capital-based colleagues who provided suggestions on improving the annual reporting process during the WTO workshops on the implementation of TRIPS Article 66.2 held in 2019 and 2020.
  4. The current proposal is self-explanatory. The proposed template does not demand any new information that developed country Members are already providing in the annual reports following the TRIPS Council decision contained in document IP/C/28 dated 20 February 2003 and the existing reporting format proposed through document IP/C/W/561 dated 6 October 2011. The proposed template has just reorganized the columns and rows of the existing reporting format to bring clarity and simplification. The additional contribution in the new template is the appendix, expected to specify the incentives and the details of the enterprise and institution receiving the incentives from the developed country Members and transferring technology to LDCs. It is also possible to adjust and accommodate this template with the e-TRIPS Gateway. The proposed template with appendix is expected, as has been stated in the proposal, to help simplify reporting process, synchronize the current reporting variations, and acknowledge the substantive contributions of the developed country Members with evidence and precision.
  5. It may also be noted that LDC Group earlier submitted a proposal (document IP/C/W/640) dated 16 February 2018 requesting the TRIPS Council to specify the meaning of 'incentives to enterprises and institutions'. The LDC Group further submitted a room document RD/IP/24 dated 14 June 2018, to discuss and agree on developing an illustrative list of incentives for the purpose of technology transfer to LDCs. Till date there is no agreed list of incentives, however, many reporting Members are currently following the non-exhaustive illustrative list, as contained in RD/IP/24, as a guide while submitting annual reports. LDC Group sincerely appreciates those Members. The Group also encourages Members to actively engage in discussion to specify the illustrative list of incentives to technology transfer to LDCs.
  6. To create a sound and viable technological base in the LDCs, the LDCs need support from the developed country Members. This is also a commitment of obligatory nature for the developed country Members. The LDC Group invites Members to reflect on the annual reporting template for TRIPS Article 66.2 contained in the proposal and explore further how to utilize this template for future reporting purpose. Members are also encouraged to discuss and deliberate on the meaning of incentives and develop an illustrative list of such incentives for the purpose of annual reporting under TRIPS Article 66.2.
  7. In this regard, the LDC Group stands ready to engage constructively with Members.

6. Documents referred to in intervention

7. Conclusion

The Council took note of the statements made.

8. Summary of the agenda item (if available)

47.   The Chair said that the agenda item had been requested by Chad, on behalf of the LDC Group. A communication had been circulated in document IP/C/W/664. She invited the LDC Group to introduce the agenda item.
48.   The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDC Group, took the floor to introduce the item.
49.   The representatives of Nepal; Nigeria; Tanzania, on behalf of the LDC Group; Zimbabwe; South Africa; India; China; the United States of America; Switzerland; Canada; Japan; Indonesia; and, the European Union took the floor.
50.   The Council took note of the statements made.

9. Document symbol and date of distribution

IP/C/M/95, IP/C/M/95/Add.1
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