Know-how switch is deeply embedded within the TRIPS Settlement and is explicitly talked about in its aims in Article 7. In Article 66.2, the TRIPS Settlement particularly obliges developed nation members to offer incentives to enterprises and establishments of their territories to advertise and encourage know-how switch to LDC members. The intention is to allow LDCs to create a sound and viable technological base.
Since 2003, when WTO members agreed on the transparency mechanism for know-how switch below Article 66.2, developed nation members have submitted over 400 experiences detailing their actions and commitments. To this point, the TRIPS Council has performed 21 evaluations of those experiences, producing invaluable insights into efficient know-how switch methods and finest practices.
Talking on the opening session, DDG Hill supplied a forward-looking perspective, stating that “the way forward for commerce — digital, inexperienced, and services-driven — could have know-how at its core.” She famous that commerce has performed a key position in LDC improvement, and that additional efforts are wanted in sectors reminiscent of agriculture and digital applied sciences. She emphasised that “know-how switch empowers LDCs to construct manufacturing capacities; it fosters innovation and drives sustainable improvement”. This underscores the necessity to promote and encourage know-how switch in key sectors, she added.
Ms Ivanov-Durand, Chair-Designate of the TRIPS Council, highlighted the important position of know-how in reaching the Sustainable Improvement Objectives (SDGs), significantly for LDCs. She reiterated that Article 66.2 formally acknowledges the hyperlink between entry to know-how and improvement, situating know-how switch incentives throughout the broader context of LDCs’ want to determine a sturdy technological base.
She additionally famous the connection between this workshop and the upcoming assembly of the Council for TRIPS on 20-21 March 2025. At this assembly, a follow-up to the annual evaluation of experiences from 9 developed members on their know-how switch commitments and associated programmes will happen. She inspired LDC members to share insights from the workshop throughout the Council’s deliberations later within the week.
Ms Kadra Ahmed Hassan, on behalf of the LDC Group, thanked the WTO Secretariat for organizing the workshop and developed nations for his or her detailed experiences submitted in 2024. She inspired their energetic participation within the workshop and underscored the significance of casual dialogue between LDC members and developed nation members. It’s significantly necessary to tailor know-how switch programmes to LDCs’ precedence wants and be taught from developed members’ expertise, she added.
She reiterated the LDC Group’s long-standing curiosity on this mechanism. She additionally famous that the workshop “gives a chance to advertise dialogue and coordination between LDC members and developed-country members on the stage of the Council’s deliberations.”
The three-day workshop will conclude with a chance for individuals to attend the formal assembly of the Council for TRIPS on 20 March 2025. See the programme right here.
All experiences by developed members on their Article 66.2 associated programmes can be found right here.
Extra info on TRIPS and Know-how Switch.
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