H.E. Ambassador Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter (South Africa)

Australia

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

174.   Australia takes seriously our obligations and reporting requirements under Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. As we continue to grapple with the severe global health and economic challenges posed by COVID-19, we recognize that helping LDCs create the conditions necessary to encourage and enable technology transfer has never been more essential. 175.   Having provided an overview of our most recent report under Article 66.2 at the last regular meeting of the TRIPS Council in October, I do not propose during the present discussion to again outline the various tech transfer activities Australia has supported. Australia was pleased to be able to share our experiences supporting technology transfer to LDCs at previous week's TRIPS Workshop on technology transfer to LDCs. 176.   Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation spoke to our capacity building and technology transfer work in a number of LDCs and we are pleased to field subsequent questions about ANSTO's work in promoting technology transfer. 177.   We thank the Secretariat for its efforts in coordinating this Workshop, and for preparing the helpful statistical analyses of programmes reported under TRIPS Article 66.2. We were heartened to see strong attendance at the Workshop and hope that the lessons shared previous week by both LDCs and reporting countries will form the basis for ongoing discussions on Article 66.2 going forward.

The Council took note of the statements made.

42. The Chair recalled that, at the Council's meeting in October 2000, the Eighteenth Annual Review under Paragraph 2 of the Decision on the Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement had been on the agenda. At that meeting, delegations had briefly presented the updated reports submitted by developed country Members under Article 66.2. Since that meeting, the Council had received a further submission of an updated report from the delegation of New Zealand. At that meeting, the Council agreed that it would revert to the item at this meeting to permit continued consideration of the submitted material.
43. In July 2020, the LDC Group had circulated a submission entitled "Proposed New Template for Annual Reporting under Article 66.2 of the Agreement on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights".
44. In order to give LDCs more time to absorb the information provided by developed countries in their reports, and to ensure that these reports were available in the official languages of the WTO, the Secretariat had organized a Workshop on the Implementation of the Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. Due to the sanitary situation, the Workshop had been held in virtual format on 2, 4 and 5 March 2021. Some of the capital-based delegates who participated in the Workshop would take part in the discussions under this agenda item. She invited the Secretariat to report on the Workshop.
45. A representative of the Secretariat took the floor.
46. The representatives of the United States of America; Australia, the United Kingdom; Switzerland; Canada; Japan; the European Union; Norway; China; Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDC Group; and Mozambique took the floor.
47. The Council took note of the statements made.

IP/C/M/98, IP/C/M/98/Add.1