WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/412/Add.3
12 November 2003
(03-6056)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 66.2
OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT
UNITED STATES
Addendum
The following communication, dated 6 November 2003, has been received from the
Permanent Mission of the United States pursuant to paragraph 1 of the Decision on Implementation of
Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement.
_______________
The United States has undertaken to provide information regarding its activities relevant to
Article 66.2 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspect s of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).  The
present document updates the report provided by the United States in 2002 (IP/C/W/388/Add.7) for
consideration of the TRIPS Council.
1. Acceptance of Trainees
Since 1985, the US Patent and Trademark Office  (USPTO) Visiting Scholars Programme has
provided participants from over 30 foreign countries/economies with two weeks of classroom
hands-on study of the United States' intellectual property system.  Past participants in the programme
include directors and deputy directors of industrial property offices, patent and trademark examiners,
and other experts from developing countries/economies.  The Visiting Scholars Programme is themost thorough introduction to the US intellectual property system offered annually by the US
government.  The goals of the programme are:
(1) to foster a better understanding of international intellectual property obligations
and norms;
(2) to educate participants on the US intellectual property system; and
(3) to exchange information on intellectual property issues.
The Fall 2003 class includes a diverse group of government officials and intellectual property
professionals from Asia, Africa, Europe, and Central America.  Planned events for the Fall 2003programme included presentations by US Government officials on international intellectual property
treaties and on TRIPS compliance and enforcement issues.IP/C/W/412/Add.3
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2. Science and Technology Agreements of the US Department of State
The US pursues science and technology (S&T) cooperation agreements with both developed
and developing countries as an effort to foster partnerships between the scientific communities of both
countries.  Within the context of Article 66.2 of TRIPS, such cooperation activities with developing
countries, and the exchange and diffusion of knowledge and technologies, strengthen economiccooperation, as well, and are important mechanisms for the development of national economies and
the basis for expanded trade.  The collaborative S&T relationships between the US and developed
countries often yield benefits to developing countries as well.  The S&T cooperation agreements
contain provisions for protection of intellectual property, due to the nature of the research and
technology transfer which may take place pursuant to the agreement.
The S&T agreements are not funding mechanisms, but enjoin the governments to seek
collaborative relationships which build science capacity and infrastructure and apply science,
technology and engineering to facilitate a developi ng country's integration into the global economy.
Areas which may be covered include:  basic research and science education, meteorology and weather
forecasting, health sciences and public health, watershed management, environment and biodiversity
protection, energy and alternative energy research and development, information and communications
technology, and biotechnology (in all facets).  Science relationships have the ancillary benefit of
helping to foster democracy and civil society, enha ncing a country's ability to make science-informed
decisions on issues related to sustainable development, and advancing the frontiers of knowledge.
New bilateral S&T agreements were recently concluded with the following developing
countries:  Bangladesh (signed 1 March, 2003), Pakistan (signed 25 June, 2003), and the Philippines
(20 May, 2003).  The S&T Agreement with Chile is in the renewal process.  Additionally, new S&T
relationships are being considered with Algeria, India, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Uruguay.
The S&T relationship with Italy is an example of a collaboration which is yielding direct
benefit to developing countries.  At its Seventh Biennial Review Meeting under the agreement, held in
Washington, DC, on 17-18 June, 2003, the two governments agreed to cooperative projects on
building health capacity in developing countries, helping to build science capacities to use geospatial
technologies in Africa and other developing regions.  The projects focus on the use of widely
available satellite imagery to monitor and analyse natural resources, and work on geothermal energy
sources in Africa through international public-private partnerships.  The two governments also agreed
that the existing cooperation in parks and conservation should be deepened to include parks andprotected areas management as an outcome of the IUCN World Parks Congress scheduled for Durban,
South Africa later this year.
The Embassy Science Fellows Programme is another major effort applicable to Article 66.2
of TRIPS.  Through this programme USG agencies send representatives to Embassies abroad to lookat establishing new institutional linkages and long-term partnerships with the S&T community in
government, academia and the private-sector.  In 2003, over 50 Embassy Science Fellows were placed
overseas, principally to countries not already covered by traditional S&T agreements.  The experience
has resulted in the formation of important new networks.
Within the context of our rejoining UNESCO, the US is looking at how our work within this
organization also contributes to fulfilment of ou r obligations under Article 66.2 of TRIPS, particularly
in the application of science and technology to capacity building and sustainable development.IP/C/W/412/Add.3
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3. SACU Private Sector Roundtable on WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Issues
A roundtable was held on 15 October, 2003 between government representatives of the South
African Customs Union (SACU), which includes Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and
Swaziland; and US  private-sector representatives of standards and conformity assessment
organizations, manufacturers and trade associations.  The roundtable provided SACU representativeswith a perspective of US views concerning standa rds and the opportunity to present questions on the
role of the private-sector in the US standardiz ation system and in meeting obligations under the
WTO's Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.
4. Trade Capacity Programmes in Sub-Sahara Africa
Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA - Title I of the Trade and
Development Act of 2000)
1, technical assistance is targeted to sub-Saharan African countries to
promote economic reforms and development.
The Administration has devoted special attention to trade capacity building (TCB) activities
in sub-Saharan Africa. From FY99 to FY02, the US devoted US$345 million to TCB programmes.
FY02 funding was US$105 million, a 65 per cent increase  over the FY01 level.  In FY03, as in FY02,
the US will contribute US$1 million to the voluntary WTO Global Trust Fund for technical
assistance, much of which will be used for programmes assisting sub-Saharan African countries.  US
trade capacity building activities in sub-Saharan Africa are implemented by a broad range of agencies,
including the US Agency for International Devel opment (USAID), the Department of Commerce, the
Department of Agriculture, and many others.  USTR works closely with all of these agencies to
ensure that US-sponsored TCB assistance is comprehensive and responsive to both African needs and
US trade policy objectives.  In April 2002, USTR created the Office for Trade Capacity Building to
coordinate US Government TCB efforts linked to bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations and the
implementation of trade agreements.  Helping c ountries to access benef its under AGOA has been a
major focus of US TCB programmes.  The following is an update on some of the USG capacitybuilding and technology transfer programmes to implement AGOA:
(a) Millennium Challenge Account
In March 2002, President Bush announced his intent to establish a special development
assistance programme, the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), designed to help spur economic
growth in developing nations.  The goal of the MCA is to achieve poverty reduction through
economic growth by investing in areas such as ag riculture development, education, enterprise and
private sector development, governance, health, and trade and investment capacity building.  With
Congressional approval, the MCA will increase core US development assistance by 50 per cent over
the next three years, reaching annual levels by FY06 US$5 billion higher than current core assistance.
While the MCA is a global initiative, it is anticipated that a substantial portion of its funding will go
to sub-Saharan African countries.  The MCA is a new approach to development assistance.  The MCAestablishes a true partnership in which the developing country, with the participation of its citizens,
proposes its own priorities and plans for MCA funding.
(b) USAID
USAID is the primary agency in the US Government involved in delivering development
assistance to sub-Saharan Africa and has field offices throughout the region.  These offices operate 22
bilateral assistance programmes and three regional programmes. The regional programmes – in
                                                     
1 The text of AGOA is available in the WTO Secretariat for consultation by interested delegations.IP/C/W/412/Add.3
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Eastern, Southern, and West Africa – work with African organizations responsible for activities that
are multinational in nature.
In support of AGOA, USAID's t echnical assistance promotes African economic growth,
trade, and competitiveness in the global economy.  USAID's many programmes support African tradeand investment policy and institutional analyses and reform, trade capacity building and technical
training, and the promotion of US-Africa privat e sector development. These programmes help to
create a supportive environment for trade and investment.
The following are highlights of other USAID technical assistance programmes related to trade:
• In southern and Eastern Africa, USAID is implementing the Southern Africa Regional
Biosafety Policy Development project.  This programme focuses on the technical
training necessary to develop and implement science-based biosafety regulations as
required in international agreements such as the WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary
Agreement and Codex Alimentarius, as well as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
The programme has trained scientists and policy makers in six southern African
countries. In Malawi and Mozambique, scientists trained under this programmeresponded to concerns about the safety of biotechnology and helped to draft biosafety
regulations.
• USAID's Regional Mission in Southern Africa is providing technical assistance to
Southern African Development Community (SADC) to enhance the region's capacity to
manage and coordinate SADC's macroeconomic convergence programme in support ofregional economic integration. A full-time, long-term Macroeconomic Convergence
Advisor has been attached to the SADC Secretariat and resources are available to support
macroeconomic convergence and tax policy harmonization.  The tax programme
involves tax coordination within the SADC region and focuses on good fiscal
governance issues.
• Assistance is also being provided to encourage implementation of a regional Value
Added Tax.  Since 2000, the Regional Mission in West Africa (WARP) has been
providing the Department of Integration Programmes at ECOWAS with technical
assistance, including three technical staffers, to support the establishment of a West
Africa Power Pool (WAPP).  The WAPP is intended to develop the administrative andinstitutional mechanisms that will permit energy trading throughout the region.  This will
produce a reliable, affordable and sustainable supply of energy for West Africa, while
contributing to the region's economic and social development.
• The Education for Development and Democracy Initiative (EDDI) is an interagency
Presidential initiative involving USAID, the Departments of State, Agriculture and
Education, and the Peace Corps.  It supports comprehensive education interventions that
promote human capacity development leading to sustained economic strengthening.
EDDI's Economic Entrepreneurial Development Centre contributes to private-sector-led
economic growth in Africa by strengthening the skills of people already in business and
providing training to other individuals, especially students, aspiring to enter the business
world.  The programme is being implemented through a series of internships,
institutional exchanges, workshops, and seminars.
In 2002, USAID provided US$80.5 million in trade capacity building funds for sub-Saharan
Africa.  With the opening in the past year of three regional Hubs for Global Competitiveness, USAID
inaugurated the Trade for African Development and Enterprise (TRADE) initiative. TRADE is aIP/C/W/412/Add.3
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multi-year programme designed to promote African commercial competitiveness;  reduce poverty;
improve trade-related public services, policy formulation and implementation;  strengthen the
business environment;  and promote US African business development. The Hubs are located in
Botswana, Kenya and Ghana.  Each Hub serves as a technical assistance platform for a cadre of
technical experts in support of trade and de velopment.  At the AGOA Forum in January 2003,
President Bush announced that each Hub will support a technical expert from the USDA Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to help sub-Saharan African countries address challenges
related to meeting sanitary and phytosanitary requirements for the US market.
 
(c) Transportation and Communication Infrastructure Development
 A number of US Government agencies have been working to assist African countries in their
efforts to improve infrastructure in the transportation and communications sectors.
 
(i) Transportation Infrastructure
 The Department of Transportation's (DOT's) Africa Aviation Initiative is composed of three
parts – Safe Skies for Africa (SSFA), Nigeria Technical Assistance, and Open Skies.  Each of these
components is intended to promote sustainable improvements in aviation safety and security and tosupport Africa's integration into the global economy.  Recent DOT accomplishments and trade-related
programmes in sub-Saharan Africa include:
 
• Training needs assessments were made in  Angola, Cameroon, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria,
Mali, Namibia, Tanzania, and Uganda in preparation for the establishment of regional
training centres on the continent.  A Safe Skies website was developed as a medium toexchange ideas, information, and in the long-term, to provide distance learning
capabilities for the SSFA countries and Nigeria.
• DOT/Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provided safety technical assistance to
African countries to prepare them to meet ICAO safety standards and for an FAA safety
evaluation process known as International Aviation Safety Assessment.
• In November 2002, DOT co-sponsored a Globa l Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
Implementation seminar with ICAO and the Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority in Nairobi.
More than 20 sub-Saharan African countries attended.  The seminar resulted in the
development of a pilot project outline for regional implementation of Global Positioning
Satellite and GNSS technology for the East African Community.
• The Federal Highway Administration has assisted in the establishment of transportation
technology transfer centres in South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana,
Namibia and Zambia that meet those countries' specific needs in building and
maintaining their roads.  The centres help cr eate conditions for sustainable development,
facilitate foreign investment, provide a venue to promote US highway technology, anddevelop linkages and foster joint venture relationships between the US and Southern
African private sectors.
• The Federal Transit Administration, in cooperation with Ghana's Ministry of Roads and
Transport, hosted a workshop focused on transport infrastructure and services
development in Accra, Ghana in July 2002.  Transportation officials from Nigeria,
Burkina Faso and Tanzania attended the 3-day workshop and developed a series of
recommendations that the FTA will use to guide future activities on the continent.
 IP/C/W/412/Add.3
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 The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has worked extensively in all major
economic sectors to assist sub-Saharan Africa to  prepare for the benefits of AGOA.  USTDA's
programme in sub- Saharan Africa is targeted to provide the infrastructure necessary to assist the
countries of the region to modernize their economies and take part in the global economy.  This
includes projects in the rail, port, telecommunicat ions, aviation, environmental and power generation
sectors.  The following is a sampling of USTDA projects in the transportation sector:
 
• Togo Container Terminal: USTDA funded a US$364,687 grant to Sea Point Marine Africa to
enhance the container terminals at Lome, Togo with more efficient transfer capabilities toload cargo from large ships to smaller feeder vessels.  This project was supported in direct
response to a growing need for both regional and international trade in West Africa.  The
principal facilities to be developed and constructed at the Sea Point Marine Africa facility are
a container transshipment platform and an on-shore container yard, both of which willincrease the ability to move goods into and out of West Africa.
• Uganda Airport Modernization: USTDA provided funding for an assessment of the
development of Entebbe International Airport to assist in creating direct international aircargo links for this landlocked country.
• Port of Limbe Feasibility Study: USTDA f unded second-phase development of a major
container terminal hub for West and Central Africa at the Port of Limbe in Cameroon. Thecontainer terminal will ultimately provide a state of the art facility for goods transiting into
and out of West and Central Africa.
 
(ii) Communications Infrastructure
 The Digital Freedom Initiative (DFI) is a five-year programme organized by the Departments
of Commerce and State, USAID, USA Freedom Corps, and the Peace Corps.  The goal of the DFI is
to promote economic growth by transferring the benefits of information and communication
technology to entrepreneurs and small businesses in the developing world.  The DFI will be piloted in
Senegal and, if it proves successful, could be rolled out to additional countries.  Key elements of theDFI are: 1) placing volunteers in small businesses to share business knowledge and technology
expertise; 2) promoting pro-growth regulato ry and legal structures to enhance business
competitiveness; and 3) leveraging existing technology and communications infrastructure in new
ways to help entrepreneurs and small businesses better compete in both the regional and global market
place.
 
 The USAID Leland Initiative and the Fede ral Communications Commission (FCC) are
collaborating on a programme to strengthen telecommunications policy.  The programme strengthens
associations of African regulators; uses experts from the FCC and state level regulatory bodies to help
US and African university programmes on effective regulation; and provides technical assistance to
regulators in more than 20 countries.  In the past year, this effort has helped associations of regulators
to form in both West and East Africa, begun the de velopment of courses and training modules in ten
key subject areas, facilitated partnerships between two leading African regulators and their US
counterparts in New Jersey, Oregon and the District of Columbia, and provided direct assistance to
fifteen countries.
 
 USTDA approved a US$200,000 grant to a newly licensed Nigerian telecommunications
operator partnered with an American firm to deploy  a fixed wireless system in Rivers State, Nigeria.
The Nigerian partner was the only Nigerian company with US backing to win one of 20 licences
auctioned by the Nigerian Communications Commission.  The licence provides exclusive rights for it
to deploy a fixed wireless system that offers bundled voice and data services in Nigeria's oil-IP/C/W/412/Add.3
Page 7
producing Delta Region.  The feasibility study was concluded in early 2003 and the partners are
moving forward to assemble the financing necessary to deploy the system.
 
(d) Energy Infrastructure Development
 The Department of Energy (DOE), both throug h its own programmes and via partnerships
with USAID and other US agencies, is working in  sub-Saharan Africa in support of energy projects
for AGOA-eligible countries.  Activities support infrastructure development and creation of private
enterprises, especially small- and medium-sized ente rprises.  In conjunction with other agencies, the
DOE encourages the export of US energy technologies and services, facilitates regulatory reforms,
and pursues collaborative energy development and deployment opportunities.  Under the US-African
Energy Ministerial process, the DOE conducts minister ial and subministerial interactions with various
African countries and the public sector to promote sustainable energy development in Africa, attractforeign direct investment, increase on-grid and off-grid energy access, and mitigate prevailing
environmental concerns.  Other DOE activities include:
 
• Through a public-private partnership, the DOE is working with the Government of
Botswana to deploy environmentally benign coal technology and infrastructure in rural
areas and to promote economic energy development via tourism.
• In conjunction with USAID, the DOE works with the Government of Nigeria on energy
reform issues, including privatization and pricing liberalization, promoting an open
market and increased investment, energy technology demonstration and deployment
activities, and development of the natural gas market.
• The DOE is playing a leading role in the work of the Climate Technology Initiative, a
cooperative effort of the International Energy Agency.  The Initiative includes financialand technical assistance to Ghana, Mauritius, Nigeria, and South Africa for assessments
of technical needs and economic priorities as a part of the technology transfer process.
• The DOE provides capacity building and advocacy support for the West African Gas
Pipeline (WAGP) project, a 620-mile, US$500 million natural gas transmission pipeline
project that will connect Nigeria's gas reserves to markets in Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, and
Benin.  In January 2003, the Presidents of these four countries signed an historic
intergovernmental agreement to establish a common legal framework for the WAGP.
The pipeline, anticipated to be operational in 2005, would facilitate the
commercialization of much of the region's natural gas resources and eliminateenvironmental degradation from existing gas flaring.
• The DOE is assisting development of the US$4 billion Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline
Project through policy and technical exchanges with Chadian and Cameroonian energyofficials and participation in the US interagency review and monitoring process.  Funded
in part by the World Bank, the project involves the development of oil fields in southernChad and the construction and operation of an approximate 665-mile, 250,000 barrels per
day pipeline to a loading facility offshore of Cameroon.  The development package
includes a revenue management plan, which earmarks funds for regional development
projects.
 
 In Southern Africa, USAID pr ovided technical assistance for the development of an
unprecedented competitive short-term electricity market (STEM) system in which nine nationalutilities are key participants and beneficiaries.  STEM helps reduce the cost of traded electricity and
provides an enabling framework that reduces legal, institutional and political barriers to commercialIP/C/W/412/Add.3
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energy markets.  The technical assistance to SADC member States and institutions will encourage and
facilitate the establishment of competitive electricit y trading.  The overall goal of these interventions
is to increase the availability of commercial energy sources and to promote trade and regional
cooperation in energy through liberalization of energy markets, privatization and restructuring, more
efficient generation, transmission, distribution and use of energy by all sectors of society.
 
 USTDA approved a US$635,000 grant for a South African energy firm to partially fund the
cost of a US$1.27 million feasibility study examining the development of the Ibhubesi offshore
natural gas field 300 kilometres north-west of Cape Town.  USTDA assistance is supporting the final
study to define the pipeline and gas gathering investments necessary for the extraction, processing and
delivery of gas from the ocean floor to South Africa's Atlantic coast.  At the same time, USTDA is
providing US$455,300 to PetroSA, the state-owned petroleum and gas company, to finance two
parallel technical assistance projects that will help chart out the most cost-effective onshore
development strategies to use the new natural gas.  Once fully proven, the Ibhubesi gas field is
expected to be the key new source of clean energy on which the Western and Eastern Cape regions
will base their fuels and industrial development.
 
(e) African Development Foundation
 The African Development Foundation (ADF) is a US Government corporation that provides
support directly to small-, medium-, and micro-enterprises in Africa and non-governmental
organizations that work at the grassroots level.  ADF responds to unsolicited proposals for activities
that are African-driven and African-owned.  The Foundation helps applicants to develop business
plans for commercially viable activities and to obtain up to US$250,000 in capital, and technical and
managerial assistance.  The bulk of ADF's support is directed toward rural and peri-urban areas and
under-served populations, including women and minority groups.  ADF seeks to advance replicable
models for increasing the ability of the poor and disadvantaged to participate in new economic
opportunities.  In FY02, ADF had active projects in 13 African countries: Benin, Botswana, CapeVerde, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
 
AGOA specifically notes the important role of ADF in developing and implementing
strategies for increasing the participation of small-scale producers in trade and investment activities in
Africa. ADF provides technical and managerial assistance to enable small-scale producers to: 1) adopt
high-value, non-traditional crops; 2) scale up the quantity and quality of production to meet
specifications of export buyers; 3) establish or increase local processing or manufacturing to addvalue to primary products; and 4) create new export marketing partnerships.  Some examples of
ADF's active trade and investment projects follow:
 
• ADF provided a 3-year grant to Uganda Marine Processing Ltd (UMPL) in FY01.
UMPL is the smallest of the eight formal sector fish processing companies in Uganda
and one of only two companies with majority ownership by indigenous Ugandans. Itprocesses Nile Perch into fresh and frozen fillets for export to the EU and the Middle
East. In just one year, the company increased its daily throughput of raw fish by
144 per cent and its gross sales revenues by 192 per cent. It also helps smaller fish
processing enterprises that cannot export directly by buying and exporting their products.
UPML became the first company in East Afri ca to receive the International Standards
Organization (ISO) 9001 quality certification.
• A worker-owned company in Zimbabwe first received ADF support in FY98 to purchase
equipment and raw materials.  The company is in an industrial suburb of Harare that wasestablished by 24 retrenched, former employees of a metal box company.  Toothpaste
tubes are one of their main products, but it also produces collapsible aluminum tubes forIP/C/W/412/Add.3
Page 9
the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and adhesive industries.  Although 90 per cent of the raw
materials required by the company have to be imported, the company was able to
continue operating despite the collapse of the Zimbabwe Dollar because it had export
earnings to buy imported inputs.  In 2002, the company received an Exporter of the Year
award from Zimbabwe's national trade promotion agency.
• The Mukono Vanilla, Spices, and Horticultural Society received a grant from ADF to
promote production and processing of organic vanilla – a new, high-value export product
for Uganda.  ADF funding financed the planting of vanilla vines and the nitrogen-fixing
trees to support them and the cost of training farmers and establishing a processing
facility.  The cured vanilla beans command a premium price due to their high quality.
ADF subsequently expanded the initiative through grants to three other farmer
associations.  The Mukono Society is providing technical services to the three replicationprojects and will process their vanilla on a fee basis during their initial years before they
have sufficient raw material to justify the cost of establishing their own processing
plants.
• Since 1998, ADF support has helped to train small-scale farmers in Zimbabwe to grow
high-quality paprika and to finance production costs.
• In late FY02, ADF signed a five-year agreement that will leverage up to US$600,000 per
year from the Government of Namibia to match ADF's support for trade and investment
activities on a one-to-one basis. This Namibia Programme will initially focus on
production and processing of seafood, ostrich, beef, and other livestock products;
garments and textile manufacturing; and diamonds and other precious or semi-preciousstones.
• In early FY 2003, the Government of Ghana signed a five-year agreement that will
provide up to US$1 million per year to match ADF's trade and investment programmeexpenditures there. The first phase of the Ghana programme will focus on floriculture,
aquaculture, agro-processing, textiles, and information technology.
 
 
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