53. The Chairman recalled that, at the meeting of the Council on 9 March 1995, he had been asked to consult on the items that should be taken up by the Council in its work programme this year. One of the items on which there had appeared to be a general view that it was important to initiate work at an early stage was that of technical cooperation. He had sensed a good deal of interest in putting together as complete a picture as possible of the technical cooperation possibilities available to developing countries to assist them implement their TRIPS obligations. The point had been made that this matter was also relevant to the cooperation that was being envisaged between the WTO and WIPO. In addition, it had been said that it would be helpful for the Council to reflect on the type of technical cooperation activities that it would wish to see the WTO Secretariat undertake. Bearing all this in mind, he suggested therefore that the Council for TRIPS have an in-depth consideration of the various aspects of this issue at its first meeting in the autumn and that a certain amount of documentation might be prepared to provide a basis for discussion. He suggested that, first, each developed country be invited to provide, in writing and well in advance of the meeting, a description of its technical and financial cooperation programmes in the area of intellectual property relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. Second, the Council might ask each of the intergovernmental organizations which were observers to the Council for TRIPS to do the same. The Council might also seek information from UPOV in relation to its activities in the area of plant variety protection. And third, the WTO Secretariat could provide information on its technical cooperation activities and also make suggestions about what might be the future policy in this area.
