Report by Developed Country Members on the implementation of TRIPS Art. 66.2 (re. Technology Transfer to LDCs) - View details of the document

Australia
1 OVERVIEW 1. Australia is committed to implementing Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. Australia is also committed to sharing information with other WTO Members about incentives and support it offers enterprises and institutions to promote and encourage technology transfer to least developed countries (LDCs). 2. This is a full report, in respect of Article 66.2 which builds upon annual update reports provided in 2012 (IP/C/W/580/Add.2), 2013 (IP/C/W/594/Add.7), 2014 (IP/C/W/602) and 2015 (IP/C/W/611.Add.4). It is submitted in accordance with the TRIPS Council’s decision of 20 February 2003 on implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement (IP/C/28). Consistent with that decision, developed country Members are to provide annual reports on actions taken or planned in pursuance of their Article 66.2 commitments. The report focusses on incentives that are either targeted specifically at LDCs or at a group of countries which includes an LDC. 3. In this report, technology transfer is taken to include training, education and the dissemination of knowledge, as well as the intellectual property embedded in transferred goods and services and the dissemination of business information and know-how on which a product, process or service is based. 4. This report focusses on Australia’s efforts to help LDCs create the conditions essential to encourage technology transfer to them. Technical cooperation in favour of least developed and developing countries to facilitate the TRIPS Agreement’s implementation is another discrete obligation, on which Australia reports separately. Australia recognizes that some technical cooperation activities may help to create an environment conducive to the creation or acquisition of technologies. 5. In Australia, many incentives for technology transfer take the form of official development assistance. These incentives align with Australia’s strategic focus on using aid as a catalyst to promote economic growth and poverty reduction, including through a strong emphasis on aid for trade. Since 2012, Australia’s Global Trade Integration Facility has provided funding to the Australia-WIPO Funds in Trust (FiT) to assist technology and knowledge transfer to LDCs and developing countries in the Indo-Pacific region. In February 2016 the Australian Government and WIPO launched a second iteration of funding for the WIPO FiT programme of AUD 3 million. It is expected that Australia will report on these activities under the second iteration of WIPO FiT next year. 6. Enterprises and institutions eligible for funding to deliver projects and activities to facilitate technology transfer include government agencies and public institutions, non-government organizations, independent consultants and experts, and universities and research organizations. 7. Australian aid has been untied since 2006, allowing non-Australian organizations to bid for contracts to supply goods and services under bilateral and multilateral development assistance programmes. Untied aid is the best way to ensure activities represent value for money, are cost-effective and use the best globally available expertise, thereby achieving the best development results. Consistent with this, Australia’s aid-funded incentives for technology transfer are not exclusive to Australian institutions and enterprises. 8. Australia recognizes that LDC Members are interested in the outcomes and outputs of Members’ activities with a technology transfer dimension. This report’s annex includes specific examples of relevant programmes and projects in the format suggested by LDCs (IP/C/W/561).
# Name of programme or project Beneficiary Members(s) Category of technology  
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