On Thursday, 10 October 2013, India delivered this intervention on Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement mandates developed country members of the WTO to “provide incentives to enterprises and institutions in their territories for the purpose of promoting and encouraging technology transfer to least-developed country Members in order to enable them to create a sound and viable technological base.”
Intervention on Art 66.2Thank you Chair for providing me the floor. India attaches great importance to the issue of technological transfer by the developed countries to the LDCs and believes that unless we make such positive efforts to ensure that the developing countries, and especially the LDCs among them, secure a share in the growth in international trade commensurate with the needs of their economic development, the goals set by the framers of the WTO Agreements would remain unfulfilled. Further the objective set by Art 7 of the TRIPS Agreement also highlights the importance of technological innovation and to the promotion and dissemination of technology for socio economic welfare.
Chair with the lofty goals set by the framers of this Agreement, it is unfortunate that the LDCs have to demand monitoring and full implementation of the TRIPS Council decision IP/C/28 taken in 2003. The provisions of Art 66.2 are clear and unambiguous and they put an obligation on the developed countries to provide incentives to their enterprises and institutions. Despite the flexibility provided to the developed countries by not specifying the nature of incentives, the end product of the provision – i.e to create a sound and viable technological base in the Least developed countries, seems to be a pipe dream. When the LDCs submitted a simple format for reporting by the developed countries in 2011, we hear opposition from some Members saying that one size fits all solution is not an appropriate one. We therefore wonder how come a single Agreement on IP, with uniform laws to all Members at different levels of development could be appropriate.
Chair, we appreciate the reports submitted by the developed countries for consideration under this Agenda item. But we feel that the approach of these countries is mostly ritualistic and non serious, far from meeting the desired objective. We would therefore urge all the developed countries to find an amicable solution in consultation with the LDC members so that the goal of technology transfer is fulfilled.