166. The Chairman recalled that, at its meeting in February 2003, the Council had adopted a decision on the "Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement". Paragraph 1 of the Decision provided that developed country Members were to submit annually reports on actions taken or planned in pursuance of their commitments under Article 66.2. To that end, developed country Members were to provide new detailed reports every third year and, in the intervening years, updates to their most recent reports. Those reports were to be submitted prior to the last Council meeting scheduled for the year in question.
167. The third set of detailed annual reports under the Decision had been presented to the Council's meeting in October 2009. At its meeting in June 2012, the Council had requested developed country Members to submit a fourth set of new detailed annual reports for the present meeting. The Secretariat had issued on 15 June an airgram (WTO/AIR/3956) to remind developed country Members of that request.
168. The Council has received new detailed annual reports from the following developed country Members: Japan; New Zealand; Australia; Norway; Switzerland; Canada; the United States; and the European Union and individual member States, namely Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. This documentation had been circulated in document IP/C/W/580 and addenda.
169. In addition, the Council had received a communication from the delegation of Angola on behalf of the LDC Group that contained questions posed by the LDC Group concerning the reports that had been submitted for the ninth annual review and had been circulated in document IP/C/W/558 and addenda.
170. He also recalled a paper that the delegation of Angola had submitted on behalf of the LDC Group prior to last year's review that contained a proposal by the LDC Group for a format for reports on the implementation of Article 66.2. That submission had been circulated in document IP/C/W/561.
171. With respect to the purpose and conduct of the review of this information, he recalled that paragraph 2 of the Decision on the Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement explained that the annual review meetings shall provide Members with an opportunity to pose questions in relation to the information submitted and request additional information; discuss the effectiveness of the incentives provided in promoting and encouraging technology transfer to least developed country Members in order to enable them to create a sound and viable technological base; and consider any points relating to the operation of the reporting procedure established by the Decision.
172. Since some of the information had been received only very recently, and most of it was available only in its original language, he said that he intended to provide an opportunity, at the Council's next meeting, for Members to make further comments on the information submitted for this meeting that they might not yet have been able to study, and to comment any additional information that might yet be provided before that meeting.
173. He said that for the fifth year in a row, the Secretariat had organized, at the request by LDC Members, a workshop on transfer of technology under Article 66.2 back-to-back with the Council's end-of-year meeting. The workshop had been convened on 5 November. It had again brought together LDC and developed country experts to discuss this matter at a very practical level, building on the earlier workshops. It was his understanding that there had again been a constructive exchange of views, which had been useful to both LDC and developed country delegations.
