35. The representative of Australia welcomed the general thrust of the joint non-paper and thanked Hong Kong, China for initiating it. Australia had already done extensive work in the area of technical cooperation for notification and review in cooperation with countries in its region, including the preparation of a major study on the notification and review process developed precisely to provide the kind of practical assistance that was called for in the joint non-paper. Australia had distributed copies of its informal survey to all developing country Members and least-developed country Members in Geneva in December 1999. The survey was also available on the Internet at a website address. Australia had an active programme of technical cooperation focused especially on its region and the programmes included promotion of appropriate technology transfer and legal, technical and logistical support for TRIPS implementation and effective use of the intellectual property system. A concrete example was the biotechnology training package which focused on commercialization and management of intellectual property which had been trialled in Viet Nam and Thailand earlier in 2000. Work was continuing on the package to enable its widespread distribution and use throughout the South Pacific and Asia-Pacific regions and by other interested developing and least developed countries. Australia's policy for development cooperation sought to take full account of the priority requirements expressed by developing and least-developed country partners to ensure that a technical assistance programme met the needs identified and articulated by the recipient country. A prescriptive approach to providing technical assistance would undermine this principle and could lead to lessened emphasis on the expressed needs of the recipient country. The introductory remarks in the informal survey noted that, given the diversity of national laws and legal frameworks among Members and the discretion that they had exercised, there could be no model or ideal approach to the notification and review processes. Australia recognized that these processes could be burdensome and difficult for Members to undertake. Her delegation wished to share more broadly the practical lessons drawn from its informal survey and its experience in working with a number of countries in its region and thereby increase confidence and mutual understanding among Members. Her delegation wished to discuss its specific comments on the joint non-paper with Hong Kong, China and its other co-sponsors and hoped to co-sponsor it when it was circulated as a formal document.
