187. The Chairman recalled that the Council had agreed, at its meeting in June 2007, to hold its annual review of technical cooperation at the present meeting. In preparation for this annual review, developed country Members had once more been requested to update information on their technical and financial cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement in time for the present meeting. Other Members who had also made available technical cooperation were encouraged to share information on these activities if they so wished. The Secretariat had issued on 23 July 2007 an airgram (WTO/AIR/2880) reminding Members of this request. In addition, intergovernmental organizations observers to the Council as well as the WTO Secretariat had been invited to provide information.
188. The Council had received information from the following developed country Members: Switzerland; Japan; the European Communities and individual member States and agencies (namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the European Patent Office); as well as from New Zealand, Norway, the United States; Canada and Australia (being circulated in document IP/C/W/496 and addenda). Updated information had been obtained from the following intergovernmental organizations: UNCTAD, UPOV and WIPO (being circulated in document IP/C/W/495 and addenda). In addition, the IMF had informed the Chairman, by means of a letter dated 27 July 2007, that it did not undertake any TRIPS-related technical assistance and, hence, did not have any useful information to provide to the Council. Updated information on the WTO Secretariat's technical cooperation activities in the TRIPS area could be found in document IP/C/W/494.
189. He also recalled that paragraph 2 of the TRIPS Council's 2005 decision on the "Extension of the Transition Period under Article 66.1 for Least-Developed Country Members" provided that "with a view to facilitating targeted technical and financial cooperation programmes, all the least-developed country Members will provide to the Council for TRIPS, preferably by the 1 January 2008, as much information as possible on their individual priority needs for technical and financial cooperation in order to assist them taking steps necessary to implement the TRIPS Agreement". Pursuant to this provision, the Council had received communications from Sierra Leone and Uganda on their priority needs for technical and financial cooperation (documents IP/C/W/499 and 500, respectively).
