91. The representative of Brazil presented an advance copy of a communication introducing to the Council "cluster" A of the WIPO Development Agenda. This particular cluster dealt with technical assistance and contained 14 recommendations that had been adopted by the WIPO General Assembly in 2007. Some of them referred to the TRIPS Agreement, and one to the agreement between the WIPO and the WTO under which TRIPS-related technical assistance was to be provided to developing countries, including least-developed countries. The process in WIPO had entered the implementation phase with the first meeting of the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property in March 2008. A draft work programme for the implementation of the 45 agreed proposals of the Development Agenda, which were organized into six clusters, was currently under discussion.
92. He believed that the proposals under cluster A provided a relevant guiding framework also for discussions in the TRIPS Council. Assistance activities should be demand-driven, transparent, neutral, and accountable and take into account the special needs of developing countries, in particular least-developed countries. This required careful needs assessments with the participation of stakeholders, including from civil society, and an effective evaluation mechanism capable of monitoring each stage of implementation. He said that additional information was included in the communication and the attached cluster A recommendations.
93. He proposed that the Council take note of the 14 proposals contained in cluster A of the Development Agenda acknowledging, where applicable, their relevance for the implementation of Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement. He submitted that the consideration of issues related to technical assistance and capacity building under Article 67 be carried out on the basis of these recommendations or taking them as relevant points of reference, because they dealt with subject matter pertaining to Article 67 and were relevant for activities carried out under the WIPO-WTO Cooperation Agreement. He believed that they provided a framework that had been agreed to by consensus in WIPO, an organization dealing with intellectual property and providing the better part of technical assistance to developing countries for the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.
