28. The Chairman recalled that the Council had had an extensive discussion on technical cooperation at its meeting of 22 February 1996. In the light of that discussion he had held informal consultations on two points: first, the question of whether Members providing information on technical cooperation activities should be asked to use a list of basic headings for presenting an overview; and second, the issue of organising an in-depth thematic discussion on a particular aspect of technical cooperation.
29. In regard to the first question, the Chairman noted that the Secretariat had prepared, as requested by the Council, in document IP/C/W/22, a summary of the information on technical cooperation. The first part of the summary discussed general assistance in the development of human resources, since such assistance facilitated many other forms of cooperation, including preparation of laws and regulations and institution building. The second part of the summary described activities that were specifically aimed at assisting in the preparation of laws and regulations on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights as well as on the prevention of their abuse. The third part described support regarding the establishment or reinforcement of domestic offices and agencies relevant to these matters, including training designed mainly for the personnel of these offices and agencies. The fourth part discussed briefly other types of assistance made available. Furthermore, an attempt had been made, where possible, to differentiate in each part between the activities related to standards of protection and those related to the enforcement of rights.
30. The Chairman said that he had held consultations on the question of whether developed country Members, in presenting an overview of their technical cooperation activities, should be requested to summarize their activities using the headings as used in the summary, i.e. first, human resources; second, assistance in the preparation of laws and regulations; third, institution building; and fourth, other assistance. Under each heading, Members would be requested, where possible, to differentiate between the activities related to standards of protection and those related to the enforcement of rights. In order to ensure that coherent descriptions of various projects falling into several categories under these headings would not be lost, Members would be encouraged to annex to this details of individual programmes. The consultations had not as yet yielded an agreed position on this matter.
