Minutes of meeting

V.information on technology capacity-building

2.The representative of Zambia thanked the Secretariats of the CBD, UNCTAD, UNIDO and WIPO for the information on technology capacity building which they had provided. The information showed that all of them had programmes of technical assistance for technological capacity building. In his delegation's view, what was important was how these organizations could be more helpful in the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement by developing countries and, particularly, LDCs, in a balanced manner that placed equal emphasis on these countries' rights and benefits, on the one hand, and obligations, on the other hand. For instance, he asked how this could be enhanced through technical cooperation afforded by the WTO.

3.The representative of the Secretariat, responding to the representative of Zambia, said that he would take up this issue with the Director of the Technical Cooperation Division of the Secretariat. He recalled that the WTO Secretariat had limited resources but, within those limits, it was seeking to refocus its technical cooperation activities, including those conducted with other organizations. In the TRIPS area, this meant not merely helping countries implement their obligations under the Agreement, but also helping them to take advantage of the IP system as a vehicle for promoting their development. Under the next agenda item, he would report on the new WIPO-WTO joint initiative which had these joint objectives.

4.The representative of the European Communities said that the Secretariat's explanation fully matched the way his delegation was reflecting on technical assistance. He agreed that there was a need to refocus technical assistance so that it not only concentrated on the purely technical implementation of the TRIPS Agreement but that it also helped developing countries and LDCs take advantage of the benefits of the Agreement. He reiterated what had been said under agenda item N – "Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines"   that, in providing technical assistance, experts should give more attention to the need to make sure that developing countries and LDCs could take account of public health concerns in the implementation process of the TRIPS Agreement. He urged close cooperation among the relevant international organizations.

5.The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next meeting.

W.technical cooperation

2.Turning to arrangements for the annual review of technical cooperation which the Council traditionally undertook at its September meeting, the Chairperson suggested that the Council once more invite developed country Members to supply information on their activities pursuant to Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement. Other Members who also made available technical cooperation were encouraged to share information on these activities if they so wished. He also suggested that once more the Council invite those intergovernmental organizations that had observer status in the TRIPS Council to provide information on their activities of relevance and, further, that the Secretariat might also be instructed to report on its activities. He suggested that the Council request that this information be made available by the end of August, in order to allow its circulation before the Council's meeting scheduled for 19 to 21 September 2001.

3.The Council agreed to proceed as suggested by the Chair.

4.The representative of Romania informed the Council that from 6 to 8 June 2001 a national seminar on enforcement had been organized in Romania by the Secretariat in cooperation with WIPO. The seminar had been organized for the judges responsible for the enforcement of intellectual property rights, as well as for the customs officials and police, and had had approximately 130 participants. She thanked the Secretariats of the WTO and WIPO for their excellent contributions to the seminar, particularly in relation to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. She emphasized the importance that Romania attached to the subject of enforcement.

5.The Council took note of this information.

6.Continuing, the Chairperson said that, at previous meetings, the Secretariat had informed the Council of its discussions with the International Bureau of WIPO on how to coordinate and enhance cooperation between the two Secretariats in the provision of assistance for LDCs, bearing in mind that the transitional period for LDC Members of the WTO would expire on 1 January 2006.

7.The representative of the Secretariat informed the Council that, at a ceremony with representatives of LDCs at the WIPO headquarters held on 14 June 2001, the respective Directors General of WTO and WIPO had launched a new joint initiative to provide technical assistance to LDCs. This joint initiative was aimed at helping LDC Members to comply with their obligations under the TRIPS Agreement. It was also open to other LDCs and was aimed at helping LDCs make best use of the intellectual property system for their economic, social and cultural development. The new joint initiative was being taken under the auspices of the WIPO-WTO Cooperation Agreement which entered into force on 1 January 1996 which provided for cooperation, inter alia, in the provision of technical assistance. It built on existing cooperation between WIPO and WTO and their respective technical cooperation programmes, and on their experience from the joint initiative on technical cooperation launched in July 1998 to assist developing country Members to meet their commitments under the TRIPS Agreement by 2000. Under the joint initiative in favour of LDCs, the two Organizations, together with countries requesting assistance and, where appropriate, donor countries, would endeavour to maximize the use of available resources in the coming critical period by ensuring that technical cooperation programmes were efficiently planned and coordinated. The joint initiative envisaged assistance in two phases: in the first phase, the two Organizations would organize two regional workshops during the course of 2002: one for the LDCs in sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti and the other for LDCs in the Asia-Pacific region. The objective of these workshops would be to ensure that officials from these countries were fully familiar with the basic concepts, principles and obligations laid down in the TRIPS Agreement, in particular with a view to facilitating implementation and identifying critical implementation challenges. Invitations to these workshops would be extended also to LDCs that were not WTO Members nor WIPO member states. These workshops, together with bilateral contacts, would, in a second phase, help in drawing up a list of priority forms of assistance that would be provided under the joint initiative in the form of specific country action plans. Requests for technical cooperation under the joint initiative could be sent by LDCs to either the WTO or WIPO.

8.The representative of WIPO said that this joint initiative was aimed particularly at helping those LDC WTO Members comply with TRIPS obligations but invitations had been sent to all 49 LDCs - which included 30 WTO Members and six countries currently negotiating WTO membership, as well as 41 LDC member states of WIPO. WIPO's development cooperation programmes went well beyond assistance related to TRIPS implementation. For this reason, assistance available from WIPO had been identified and enumerated in the annex to the joint communication. Briefly, these included: legislative assistance, not only on compatibility with the TRIPS Agreement but also in the preparation of other draft laws; translation; assistance with notification obligations under the TRIPS Agreement; and extensive training through courses, study visits, fellowships and on-the-job training in all areas of intellectual property, including technology transfer and licensing arrangements. WIPO also assisted in institution-building where IP offices were modernized or established from ground up, and this included assistance on information technology, automation and computerization. These were just some of the forms of comprehensive assistance available from WIPO. Since January 1996, WIPO had provided legislative assistance to around 90 countries and regional offices regarding TRIPS implementation, and more than 130 countries and regional offices benefitted from WIPO's technical cooperation activities. WIPO had duly noted the expressions of appreciation for the technical assistance received from WIPO from Members, particularly during the reviews of legislation. She reiterated WIPO's commitment to assist developing countries and LDCs, both under and beyond the joint initiative in all matters concerning intellectual property.

9.The representative of the European Communities welcomed the WTO and WIPO Secretariats' launch of this joint initiative. He recalled that he had previously indicated the importance of both Organizations cooperating in providing technical assistance for developing countries and LDCs with regard to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.

10.The representative of the United States associated his delegation with the comments made by the European Communities and suggested that the Council receive regular updates on the progress made under the joint initiative.

11.The Council took note of the statements made.