WT/WGTTT/18  
 
23 November 2016  
(16-6426) Page: 1/3 
   
 
 REPORT (2016 ) OF THE WORKING GRO UP ON TRADE AND  TRANSFER  
OF TECHNOLOGY TO THE GE NERAL COUNCIL  
1. INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  At the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha in November 2001 , Minister s agreed to " an 
examination, in a Working Group under the auspices of the General Council, of the relationship 
between trade and transfer of technology, and of any possible recommendations on steps that 
might be taken within the mandate of the WTO to increase flows of tec hnology to developing 
countries" .1 Paragraph 43 of the Hon g Kong Ministerial Declaration of 18 December 2005 
reaffirmed the Ministers' commitment to advance the work of the Working Group and instructed 
the General Council "to report further to our next Session" . 
1.2.  Since the October 2015  Report of the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of T echnology to 
the Ministers , the Working Group has held three  sessions during the period  2016. The reports of 
the meetings are cont ained in documents WT/WGTTT/M/51, WT/WGTTT/M/52, WT/WGTTT/M/53 . 
At these meetings, Members continued  their analysis of the relationship between trade and 
transfer of technology, as well as considered any possible recommendations on steps that might 
be taken within the mandate of the WTO to increases flows of technology to developing countries.  
2. RELATIO NSHIP BETWEEN TRADE AND TRANSFER OF TECH NOLOGY  
2.1. During 2016 , work on the  analysis of the relationship between trade and transfer of 
technology  proceeded primarily on the basis of the discussion that Members  had had  last year , on 
the 2030 Agenda for Sus tainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)  as 
well as a presentation made by the  delegation of the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, 
Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei)  on its national experience with innovation, technology  
generation and its transfer .  
2.2. The discussions  underlined the importance of technology and technical know -how in 
improving productivity, promoting export growth and attaining the development aspirations of the 
developing countries and least developed countries. In this context, t he proponents reiterated  their 
request for sharing of national experiences, particularly by those Members that have undergone 
rapid development in the last few decades. It was felt that such experience -sharing would not only 
enrich the discussion in the Working Group but would also help technology -deficient countries to 
make more informed choices in their pursuit on the path to development.  
2.3. The presentation made by Chinese Taipei  highlighted its journey on the path to indu strial 
and technological advancement over  the past 60 years - beginning with a labour -intensive light 
engineering base to a high-tech knowledge -based industry. Having realized that a high-tech 
industrial base was the backbone of an economy and that it play ed a key role in development 
processes, Chinese Taipei  pursued a comprehensive technology policy to encourage institutional 
development, investment flows and establishing linkages between stakeholders.  
2.4. The presentation also focused on a successful ca se study on technical cooperation and 
technology transfer in the field of agricu lture and highlighte d how Chinese Taipei had helped build  
indigenous capacity to control Black Sigatoka Disease (Mycosphaerella fijiensis ) in St. Lucia.  
                                                
1 Paragraph 37 of document WT/MIN/(01)/DEC/1.  WT/WGTTT/18  
 
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  2.5. In the ensuing dis cussion , Members found the presentation by Chinese Taipei informative 
and useful in enhancing a better understanding of the key role played by various actors and 
factors in innovation and technology generation. In that context, Members highlighted the cruc ial 
role of supportive governmental policies, availability of finance, investment flows, research and 
development, educational institutes, human resource and infrastructure development. Some 
Members felt that Chinese Taipei 's experience with technology gen eration and its transfer was a 
good model for others, in particular the technology holder countries, to emula te and help 
developing country Members  and LDCs to build technological capacity. Interest was also expressed 
in hearing more success stories, espec ially in relevance to technology transfer under Article 66.2 of 
the TRIPS Agreement. In particular, the delegation of St. Lucia, in appreciating the positive 
contribution made by technical assistance provided by Chinese Taipei , stated that its exports of 
bananas had reached US$ 6.7 million in 2014 . 
2.6. The Chairman continued to encourage  Members to share their national experience bringing 
in good examples, highlighting national policies as well as challenges they faced in promoting 
innovation, technology ge neration, its assimilation and transfer. In his view , such an exercise 
would generate an honest and open debate on the complex nexus between trade and transfer of 
technology and help the Working Group to get a better sense of the potential opportunities an d 
challenges that developing countries faced in the area of technology.  
2.7. At the November meeting of the Working Group , Chinese Taipei stated that it was  running 
20 training seminars/courses on innovation, technology generation and its transfer each ye ar, 
attracting 500 participants from LDCs and developing country partners. The delegation of Chinese 
Taipei indicated interest in conducting  training programmes /seminars  for these countries jointly 
with other governments as well as intergovernmental organi zations. The Chair invited the 
delegation of Chinese Taipei to share more details on the above -mentioned training programmes 
at the nex t session of the Working Group.  
3. ANY POSSIBLE RECOMME NDATIONS ON THE STEP S THAT MIGHT BE TAKE N 
 WITHIN THE MANDATE O F THE WTO TO INCREASE F LOWS OF TECHNOLOGY T O 
 DEVELOPING COUNTRIES  
3.1. During 2016 , Members continued  to discuss a submission  made earlier  by India, Pakistan 
and the Philippines entitled "Facilitating Access to Information on Appropriate Technology 
Sourcing  - A Step to Increase Flows of Technology to Developing Countries" .  
3.2. At one of the meetings of the Working Group, t he proponents explained that one of the 
possible recommendations that the Working Group could make was the establishment of a 
dedicated W TO webpage on technology transfer. In their view, t he proposed webpage could serve 
as a one -stop-shop on technology -related issues and could, among others, include information on 
the following: (i)  description of all technology and its transfer -related pro visions in the WTO 
Agreements; (ii)  reports on the nature of incentives provided by the governments to firms under 
Article 66.2 of the Agreement on TRIPS; and (iii) links to IP information data bases, technology 
transfer offices, and technology and innovat ion research institutions across the globe.  
3.3. Members hoped that the pro ponents would soon table  a formal submission highlighting the 
characteristics of the proposed webpage for further discussion in the Working Group.  At the 
subsequent meetings , the pr oponents informed the Working Group that they continued to work on 
their formal proposal on the dedicated WTO webpage , and that they hoped to table it  in the near 
future.  
3.4. The Chairman  reiterated the importance of a formal submission by the proponents  on the 
proposed webpage and  encouraged the m to do the  same as early as possible so that Members 
could proceed to productive discussion on the proposal .  WT/WGTTT/18  
 
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  4. FUTURE WORK  
4.1. Pursuant to the mandate contained in paragraph 37 of the Doha Ministerial Declarat ion, and 
its subsequent affirmation, in paragraph 43, by Ministers in the Hong Ko ng Declaration, Members 
have continued their examin ation of  the relationship between trade and transfer of technology and 
have also considered  possible recommendati ons on step s that might be made  within the mandate 
of the WTO to increase flows of technolo gy to developing countries. The ongoing work  has covered 
a number of issues and has  helped to enhance Members' understanding of the complex nexus 
between trade and transfer of technology. Although progress has been made, more  work re mains 
to be done. In view of this , Members recommend  that the Working Group should  continue its work 
in order to fully achieve the mandate of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.  
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