H.E. Ambassador Dagfinn Sørli

Canada

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

213.   Canada would like to thank the Secretariat for organizing the thematic discussions during previous week's annual Workshop on the Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. Canada welcomed the exchange of views and experiences on the implementation of this commitment, including the opportunity to hear directly from LDCs on their tech transfer interests and priorities in meeting their respective national development objectives. In our view, this exchange is key to ensuring that LDCs have an opportunity to provide feedback on specific projects and on their priority needs, and to help provide that tech transfer incentives continue to enable LDCs to address emerging development challenges in creating a sound and viable technological base. We similarly benefit from hearing the experiences of other developed country Members, in sharing and identifying best practices and commonalities, to better inform how future incentives in the area of technology transfer can respond to LDCs' priorities over time. 214.   Canada was pleased to present on key updates from its September 2021 annual report (which can be found under document , and to participate in the previous week's panel discussion on the theme of technology transfer in the agricultural sector. In this spirit, Canada would be pleased to discuss any of the projects reported under this thematic area, and indeed any of the other thematic areas detailed in our 2021 report, which also include sectors such as environment, health, digital economy, and information and communications technology. We look forward to further dialogue through the annual Workshop and discussions here in the TRIPS Council, and once again thank the Secretariat for convening the previous week's Workshop, and all Members for their constructive engagement on this important commitment.

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