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

United Kingdom

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

178.   The United Kingdom remains committed to implementing Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement to promote and encourage technology transfer to least developed countries. 179.   Recently, at the WTO Workshop on the Implementation of TRIPS Article 66.2, the UK provided overviews of UK programmes encouraging technology transfer in the areas of health and the environment. The Workshops was a great opportunity to improve collaboration and highlight capacity building projects. Examples of technology transfer in the health space were highlighted with the novel Cradle Microlife Vital Sign Alert device to prevent pre-eclampsia, and technology transfer for rotavirus immunogenetics. In the environment session, examples included technology transfer for renewable energy initiatives, such as smart phone enabled battery packs and a renewable microgrid-based business zone. 180.   The UK would like to extend our gratitude to delegations who attended and contributed to discussions in the Workshop. The sessions were highly useful for sharing experiences on transferring technology to least developed countries. We look forward to contributing to additional sessions in the future to enable least developed countries to develop and create sound and viable technological bases.

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