H.E. Ambassador Dagfinn Sørli

Bangladesh

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

168.   I think that the LDC coordinator has covered almost all in detail, so my intervention will be very brief. As the focal point of the LDC Group on TRIPS, it is my pleasure to thank the Secretariat for the detailed report and of course for organizing this Workshop. We are delighted that all participants and capital-based colleagues participated. Since the LDC coordinator has provided a detailed summary and the substance of the 2021 reports, I can only add that, the LDC Group hopes to provide feedback of these reports to the individual developed country delegations very soon. We look forward to working with the developed country reporting Members and seek their further cooperation to better understand some of the reported projects. We also hope that the priority technology sectors highlighted and identified by the LDCs in this Workshop will also be considered by the developed country Members while initiating the next targeted projects and programmes in this regard. Along with the LDC Group, Bangladesh stands ready to engage constructively with Members. So here at the national capacity, my colleagues from the capital will be participating.

56. The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting.

51. The Chair recalled that the Council had conducted the Nineteenth Annual Review under Paragraph 2 of the Decision on the Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement at its meeting in October 2021. At that meeting delegations from developed country Members had briefly presented the updated reports they had submitted under Article 66.2, and the Council had agreed that it would revert to the item at the present meeting to permit continued consideration of the submitted material. He also recalled that, in July 2020, the LDC Group had circulated a new submission entitled "Proposed New Template for Annual Reporting under Article 66.2 of the Agreement on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights" in document .
52. In order to give LDCs more time to absorb the information provided by developed country Members in their reports, and to ensure that these reports were available in the official languages of the WTO, the Secretariat had once again 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, 3 and 4 March 2022. The Chair indicated that some capital-based delegates who had participated in that Workshop were present at the meeting.
53. The Chair asked the Secretariat to report on this Workshop.
54. A representative of the Secretariat took the floor.
55. The representatives of Sierra Leone; Chad,; Bangladesh; Togo; Nepal; Tanzania; Norway; the European Union; the United Kingdom, South Africa; Japan; Switzerland; the United States; Canada; and Australia took the floor.
56. The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting.

IP/C/M/104/Add.1, IP/C/M/104/Rev.1, IP/C/M104