World Trade Organization

10 TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING

98.   The Council usually conducts such review at the Council's previous meeting of the year. Developed country Members are invited to submit information on their activities pursuant to Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement. Other Members who also engage in technical cooperation are, of course, encouraged to share information if they so wish. Intergovernmental organizations with observer status in the TRIPS Council, as well as the WTO Secretariat, are also invited to report on their relevant activities and in the past, we have had good returns in this regard. The requested written information should be made available four weeks prior to our next meeting in order to allow timely circulation before the meeting. In view of the dates of the next TRIPS Council meeting – 1314 October 2021 – this would mean that written information on technical assistance activities would be requested by 15 September 2021. 99.   Once again, we invite Members to use the e-TRIPS Submission System. As pointed out in the past, much of the value of this information relates to its searchability. The searchability of the information is vastly improved if the information is submitted through the e-TRIPS Submission System. You may still, of course, send us a paper version. However, the only search availability for such submissions will be full-text search, whereas submissions made in the e-TRIPS Submission System are searchable, for instance, by beneficiary Members, date spans or topics that may have been indicated. It is vastly preferential to use the e-TRIPS Submission System, and we encourage Members to do that.

43. The Chair said that the Council had regularly conducted annual reviews of technical cooperation and capacity building activities at its end of the year meeting. These reviews were based on reports submitted by developed country Members, international organizations and the WTO Secretariat. He invited the Secretariat to recall the usual arrangements for such reviews.
44. A representative of the Secretariat said the usual procedure was to invite developed-country Members to submit information on their activities pursuant to Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement to be reviewed at the last Council meeting of the year. Other Members who also engaged in technical cooperation were also encouraged to share information. Intergovernmental organizations with observer status in the TRIPS Council, as well as the WTO Secretariat, were also invited to report on their relevant activities. The requested written information would usually be made available four weeks prior to the next meeting, in order to allow timely circulation before the meeting. In view of the dates of the next TRIPS Council meeting (13-14 October 2021), this would mean that written information should be submitted by 15 September 2021.
45. The Chair said that documentation on this topic was usually quite extensive. To ensure a streamlined and systematic approach to the management of documentation, members were requested to use the eTRIPS Submissions System, which allowed the convenient preparation of such submissions, both in capital and at Geneva missions. The Secretariat would be pleased to provide informal support and background to interested delegations.
46. The representatives of Bangladesh; and the World Intellectual Property Organization took the floor.
47. The Council agreed to proceed in the usual manner and to revert to the matter at its next meeting.