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TRIPS: LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Least developed countries’ priority needs in intellectual property

As least developed countries prepare to implement the WTO’s intellectual property provisions, they have been asked to identify their needs in order to receive support. This is an overview of the process of identifying and responding to least developed countries’ needs, with links to working materials, updates and tools for coordinating this on-going work.

Updated: 16 June 2010

See also:
> TRIPS
> Least developed countries

The negotiators of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) recognized the particular concerns and needs of least developed countries (LDCs) when it comes to the intellectual property system.

The TRIPS Agreement’s preamble already acknowledged least developed countries’ particular need for maximum flexibility in implementing laws and regulations domestically. The objective was to enable them to create a sound and viable technological base.

Consequently, the TRIPS Agreement obliged developed countries to create incentives for technology transfer to least developed countries. It also allowed least developed countries 10 years from 1995 to apply the bulk of TRIPS obligations.

The transition period could be extended in response to a specific request and in 2005 the TRIPS Council decided to extend the period until 2013. Meanwhile, the 2001 Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health had already extended the period for least developed countries to comply with provisions on pharmaceuticals to 2016.

When the TRIPS Council agreed to the extension, it also set up a process to help least developed countries implement TRIPS within their national intellectual property regimes.

The council called on least developed countries to identify their priority needs for technical and financial cooperation. It asked developed countries to help to address identified needs. And it called for enhanced cooperation with WIPO and other relevant international organizations.

The emphasis was on the individual priorities of each least developed country, and on ensuring those needs are effectively met.

Wider initiatives to support these countries include the Aid for Trade Initiative (AfT) and the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF); they also provide potential avenues for an intensified, coordinated effort to respond to individual priority needs that least developed countries identify specially relating to TRIPS.
  
  

The TRIPS Council decision   back to top

In extending the transition period for least developed countries and setting up the process of assessing needs, the TRIPS Council’s Decision of 29 November 2005 (document IP/C/40) contained three operational elements.

1.      Least developed countries are asked to provide the TRIPS Council with as much information as possible on what they needed as a priority for technical and financial assistance. (They were originally asked to do this preferably by 1 January 2008.) The purpose is to help them take the necessary steps to implement the TRIPS Agreement. It would not only be for the purely technical and legal exercise of translating TRIPS provisions into their laws. The emphasis is on identifying priority needs and interests so that the assistance given is comprehensive and coordinated.

2.      Developed countries are then asked to provide technical and financial help to least developed countries to address the identified needs effectively. This means that donors and countries or organizations providing technical assistance are also responsible for making the process work. The activities have to be coordinated to avoid complicating the least developed countries’ officials’ work. The coordination also ensures that the identified needs are followed up. The whole process remains demand-driven, centred on actual requirements each least developed country has identified.

This is in line with the general WTO policy where assistance is provided only upon request. So that the effort is successful, the least developed countries should actively participate in steering the process, which therefore relies on the continuing guidance of these countries separately and as a group.

3.      The WTO is asked to enhance its cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and other relevant international organizations. The two organizations are now cooperating more closely on this area, in response to the request and based on a Cooperation Agreement adopted in 1995, as well as a Joint Initiative on Technical Cooperation for Least developed Countries, launched in June 2001.
  

Key developments   back to top

• 2007/08: Uganda (documents IP/C/W/500 and IP/C/W/510) and Sierra Leone (documents IP/C/W/499 and IP/C/W/523) were the first least developed WTO members to submit their needs assessments. Others have followed: their submissions are below.

  > Consult the guide to downloading files

• 2009: A WTO Workshop on Least Developed Countries’ Priority Needs for Technical and Financial Cooperation (see on right), was held in Geneva on 29 October 2009, following a request from the least developed country group in the TRIPS Council in June of that year. It was part of following up on the TRIPS Council Decision of 29 November 2005. The main purpose was to enable least developed countries, developed countries, the WTO and WIPO to exchange views and share experiences. The Workshop examined ways to make use of existing mechanisms, such as the Aid for Trade Initiative (AfT) and the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) (see also a Secretariat document summarizing the issues, IP/C/W/544. It also looked at how to coordinate future activities. Authorities from other countries also heard from Uganda, Sierra Leone and Bangladesh about the lessons they had learnt in practice in assessing their needs.

• 2010/11: The following activities feature in the WTO Biennial Technical Assistance and Training Plan (2010-2011) (document WT/COMTD/W/170/Rev.1):

  • three regional workshops on needs assessment for least developed countries to be held in 2010 for the benefit of capital-based officials, in French-speaking Africa, English-speaking Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, and

  • a symposium on least developed countries’ needs-assessment for Geneva-based delegates, to be held in 2011.

  In addition, least developed countries may ask for up to three national technical assistance and capacity building activities to be organized per year in any subject covered by the WTO, including intellectual property. Those focusing on TRIPS would aim to improve knowledge and skills in areas defined by the beneficiary countries, in particular by including modules specifically dedicated to the needs assessment.
    

Official texts and documents   back to top

• Decision on the Extension of the Transition Period under Article 66.1 for Least-Developed Country Members, adopted by the TRIPS Council on 29 November 2005 (Press release and official document IP/C/40).

• Submissions received from least developed country members on their individual priority needs for technical and financial cooperation under the Decision of 29 November 2005:

  • 2010: Rwanda IP/C/W/548
     
  • 2010: Bangladesh IP/C/W/546
     
  • 2007: Uganda IP/C/W/500 and IP/C/W/510
     
  • 2007: Sierra Leone IP/C/W/499 and IP/C/W/523
     
• WTO Secretariat Note on the Aid for Trade Initiative and the Enhanced Integrated Framework (IP/C/W/544). This note compiles information on the roles of the two initiatives in the needs assessment process.
     

Links   back to top

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