IP/C/W/609/Add.4  
 
7 October 2015  
(15-5223)  Page: 1/6  
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English  
 
  TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM  
OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TR ADE AND DEVELOPMENT (UNCTAD) 
Addendum 
At its meeting of 9-10 June 2015, the Council for TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental 
organization observers to the Council to update the information on their technical and financial cooperation programmes relating to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  
The present document reproduces the information which has been received from the United 
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) by means of a communication dated 
6 October 2015. 
 
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Responding to the mandate received from Member States at the Ministerial Conference in Doha, as well as to intergovernmental requests under th e WIPO Development Agenda and the World Health 
Assembly's Resolution 61.21 on a Global Strategy an d Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation 
and Intellectual Property, the UNCTAD Secretariat,  through its Intellectual Property (IP) Unit, 
implements a work programme on the development dimensions of IP rights (IPRs). The IP Unit conducts research and analysis on trade and development aspects of intellectual property and 
facilitates consensus-building in international discussions on issues at the interface between 
investment and intellectual property.  Located in the Division on Investment and Enterprise, Investment Capacity-Building Branch, the IP Unit undertakes research and analysis, responds to 
requests for technical assistance and advises on policy options in these fields for successfully 
integrating developing countries into the world economy. This document provides an overview of UNCTAD's IP and development-related activities during the period of November 2014 to October 2015. More information on past activities is available at 
http://unctad.org/en/Pages/DIAE/Intellectua l%20Property/Development-Dimensions-of-
Intellectual-Property-Rights.aspx ; and  http://www.iprsonline.org/ . 
 
1  TECHNICAL COOPERATION 
1.  UNCTAD's IP Unit conducts technical cooperat ion activities with developing countries in the 
integrated areas of investment, trade and intelle ctual property. These projects are on a request 
basis and funded by donor governments and institutions.  
2.  IPRs and local pharmaceutical production and supply capacity of essential medicines.  
In 2005, UNCTAD was mandated by its Commi ssion on Investment, Technology and Related 
Financial Issues to engage on work related to the local manufacturing and supply of 
pharmaceutical products, in the context of MDG 8, Target 17.1 The Commission recommended 
that: 
 
                                               
1 "In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in 
developing countries".  IP/C/W/609/Add.4 
 
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  "UNCTAD should, within its work programme on investment, technology transfer and 
intellectual property, assess ways in which developing countries can develop their domestic productive capability in the supply of essential drugs in cooperation with pharmaceutical companies."
2 
 
3.  In the pursuit of this mandate, UNCTAD established in 2006 a pilot programme on local 
pharmaceutical production with the financial su pport of Germany and the United Kingdom. The 
overall objective of the programme, implemented by the IP Unit, is to assist developing countries, 
and least-developed countries (LDCs) in particular, to establish domestic intellectual property regimes that facilitate increased access to affordable medicines; and, where feasible, create local or regional pharmaceutical production and supply capacities, including in cooperation with 
investors.  
4.  Policy coherence in local pharmaceutical production. Funded by German International 
Cooperation (GIZ), UNCTAD is examining coherence of policies in selected developing countries in 
respect of health, trade and industrial development.  The overall objective of this exercise is to 
assist developing countries in building capacities to promote such coherence to ensure that local pharmaceutical production increases access to medicines. UNCTAD and GIZ pursue this activity on 
a regional basis in South-East Asia and the East African Community (EAC). This regional activity 
complements a similar, European Union (EU)-funded project, where UNCTAD in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) as the lead agency is analysing policy coherence at the national level in a number of selected developing countries in Africa.   
5.  IPRs and biodiversity.  In 2011, UNCTAD launched its technical assistance programme on IP 
and biodiversity, with financial support from  the Government of Germany (BMZ) and in 
cooperation with GIZ. The programme focuses on the building of local capacities, in developing 
countries, to design and enforce domestic trade, customs and IP laws in line with access and 
benefit sharing rules under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), its Nagoya Protocol and the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples.  
6.  Development Dimension of Intellectual Prop erty (DDIP) and other advisory reports. 
Developed initially under the UNCTAD-International Centre on Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) Project on IPRs and Sustainable Development, UNCTAD produces, upon request by a developing country or least-developed country, advisory reports on the development dimensions of 
intellectual property (DDIP). The objective of a DDIP report is to provide well-researched and 
reasoned advice on developing countries' and LDCs' policy, legal and institutional framework for IPRs, particularly as it relates to important development objectives such as innovation, technology, 
investment, competition, education and health. Developing countries specify the key development 
objectives they wish to examine. In addition, a DDIP report will take into consideration the bilateral, regional and international commitments the target countries have entered into and the 
flexibilities available to them.  
7.  Based on this analysis, the reports incorporate medium to long-term recommendations on how 
governments and other stakeholders could make these frameworks more coherent and transparent, with a view to making IPRs contribute to a country's sustainable economic and human 
development goals, and respond to emerging global opportunities. The aim is to present an 
analysis and recommendations designed to promote innovation and technology transfer from abroad, as well as a pro-competitive and transparent domestic IP system. The DDIP reports take 
due account of the importance of maintaining an  appropriate public domain and the means to 
pursue important public interest objectives.  
8.  Cooperation with other providers of  IP-related technical assistance.  Staff of UNCTAD's 
IP Unit frequently participate in capacity-building workshops on IP and development issues 
organized by other providers of IP-related technical assistance. For instance, UNCTAD's IP Unit was invited by WIPO and WTO to contribute to the 2015 WIPO-WTO Advanced Course on IP for Government Officials.  
                                               
2 See at http://unctad.org/en/docs/c2l22_en.pdf  (paragraph 9 (c) of the Agreed Recommendations). IP/C/W/609/Add.4 
 
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  2  RESEARCH AND POLICY ANALYSIS 
9.  UNCTAD in 2015 finalized its advisory paper on "TRIPS flexibilities and anti-counterfeit 
legislation in Kenya and the EAC: implications for generic producers". The paper, which was funded by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and commented on by 
Kenyan stakeholders, analyzes current efforts in  Kenya and the EAC to combat the marketing of 
substandard medicines and provides a number of recommendations on how to avoid unintended negative consequences of such efforts for legiti mate generic pharmaceutical production. The paper 
will be available as a joint UNCTAD-UNIDO publication at the end of 2015.  
3  CONSENSUS-BUILDING  10.  Consensus-building among stakeholders on issues of IP is an important element of the 
programme's work. UNCTAD's substantive contributions on analysis of issues related to 
development and IP have enabled it to become an important forum, through its intergovernmental 
machinery, where governments, academia, civil society and the private sector can meet to exchange ideas. For example, UNCTAD on 21 January 2015 organized an Ad Hoc Expert Group 
Meeting on "The Production of Biosimilars in Developing Countries: The Next Frontier?"  
  IP/C/W/609/Add.4  
 
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UNCTAD’S TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE TR IPS AREA FROM 1 NOVEMBER 2014 TO 15 OCTOBER 2015  
Beneficiary country(ies) Title and date of the event Partner agency Description 
Nepal Advisory Mission to Nepal on 
Development Dimensions of Intellectual property Kathmandu, Nepal 12 November 2014 German Federal Ministry 
for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)  Presentation of advisory report to stakeholders at a workshop, 34 
participants. 
Ethiopia  High Level Capacity Building Workshop 
on Policy Coherence for Local 
Pharmaceutical Production and Access to 
Medicines in Ethiopia. Addis-Ababa, 
Ethiopia, 24-27 November 2014 
 WHO; Food, Medicine 
and Health Care 
Administration and 
Control Authority of 
Ethiopia (FMHACA) The multi-stakeholder workshop deve loped recommendations on how to 
promote coherence among domestic he alth, trade and industry policies 
for access to medicines and local pr oduction under Ethiopia's Second 
Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II), 35 participants.  
Bangladesh, India, Sri 
Lanka  Regional Workshop on Intellectual 
Property (IP) and Local Pharmaceutical 
Production. Colombo, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka, 3-5 December 2014 National Intellectual 
Property Office of Sri 
Lanka; BMZ; German International Cooperation (GIZ) Training on the development dimensions of intellectual property and the 
public health provisions of the TR IPS Agreement, 11 participants.  
East African Community 
(Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, 
Tanzania, Uganda) Blended learning course on IP and Local 
Pharmaceutical Production.  
October 2014 - February 2015 UNIDO; Secretariat of 
the East African 
Community (EAC); 
Federation of East 
African Pharmaceutical 
Manufacturers (FEAPM), 
BMZ; GIZ  Multi-stakeholder training on the development dimensions of intellectual 
property in the context of local phar maceutical production. Training was 
delivered through two face-to-face workshops and a distance learning 
facility. 25 participants.  
All countries Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting 
The Production of Biosimilars in Developing Countries: The Next Frontier? 21 January 2015, Geneva, Palais des Nations  This ad hoc expert group meetin g examined the issues faced by 
developing countries in biosimilar manufacture and discussed possible 
strategies to encourage local development and production. 20 participants  
Kenya High Level Capacity Building Workshop 
on Policy Coherence for Local 
Pharmaceutical Production and Access to 
Medicines in Kenya.  
Nairobi, Kenya, 11-13 March 2015 WHO; Ministry of Health, 
Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and International 
Trade  The multi-stakeholder workshop deve loped recommendations on how to 
promote coherence among domestic he alth, trade and industry policies 
for access to medicines and local pr oduction. UNCTAD presented a draft 
paper on "TRIPS flexibilities and anti-counterfeit legislation in Kenya and 
the EAC: implications for generi c producers," 35 participants  
                                               
1 In English only.  
  IP/C/W/609/Add.4  
 
- 5 - Beneficiary country(ies) Title and date of the event Partner agency Description 
WIPO Member States; WTO 
Members  WIPO-WTO Advanced Course on IP for 
Government Officials   Geneva, Switzerland, 17 March 2015 
 WIPO; WTO  Presentation on UNCTAD’s activities in the area of IPRs and 
development . 25-30 participants.  
 
East African Community 
Partner States 5th Annual East African Health and 
Scientific Conference and Exhibition. 
Kampala, 25-27 March 2015. EAC Secretariat; BMZ; 
GIZ 
  
UNCTAD made a presentation on measures to enable technology 
transfer and innovation under th e IP system, 30 participants. 
All countries "Pills, Pricing and Profitability - Aligning 
the Viability of Local Pharmaceutical Industries with the Affordability of Medicines". European Development Days 2015, Brussels, 3 June 2015  GIZ UNCTAD made a presentation on "Best practice approaches to 
enhancing policy coherence for access to medicines". 70 participants.  
The Philippines  Roundtable Discussion on Intellectual 
Property and Public Health. 
Manila, 29-30 July 2015 Supreme Court of the 
Philippines; Philippines 
Judicial Academy; BMZ Training on the development dimensions of intellectual property and the 
public health provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, 25 participants.  
The Philippines Legislative and policy advice on draft 
regulations for the protection of traditional knowledge in the Philippines Intellectual Property 
Office of the Philippines UNCTAD provided advices at the various stages of the drafting of 
administrative regulations for the protection of traditional knowledge.  
Thailand and Viet Nam  Workshop on Policy Coherence for Local 
Pharmaceutical Production and Access to 
Medicines: 
The Experiences of Thailand and 
Vietnam  
Hua Hin, Thailand, 6-9 September 2015 International Health 
Policy Program of 
Thailand's Ministry of 
Health;  
Drug Administration of 
Viet Nam; GIZ Workshop participants exchanged inter-country experiences, identified 
gaps in policy coherence and prov ided policy recommendations for 
follow-up work in the respective  countries. 27 participants.  
Oman  Visit of Omani delegation to follow up on 
UNCTAD's Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Review for Oman. Geneva, 16 September 2015.  The Research Council of 
Oman UNCTAD made a presentation on the role of intellectual property rights 
in innovation, 15 participants.  
WIPO Member States  Master in Intellectual Property organized 
by the University of Turin, the World 
Intellectual Property Organization 
(WIPO) and the International Labor 
Office's Internationa l Training Center. 
Turin, 17 September 2015  WIPO; University of 
Turin; ILO International 
Training Center.  UNCTAD made a presentation on Intellectual Property Rights, Trade and 
the Building of Technological Capacities in Developing Countries. 35 
participants.  
EAC Secretariat and Partner 
States (Burundi, Kenya, 
Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda)  Policy Coherence for local production of 
pharmaceutical products and other 
means to improve access to medicine 
and medical products in the East African Community Kampala, 21-23 September 2015.  GIZ; EAC Secretariat  The multi-stakeholder wo rkshop developed recommendations on how to 
promote coherence among health, trade and industry policies for access 
to medicines and local production at the regional level, 20 participants.   
  IP/C/W/609/Add.4  
 
- 6 - Beneficiary country(ies) Title and date of the event Partner agency Description 
Uganda National workshop on Promoting Policy 
Coherence for Access to Medicines in 
Uganda 
Kampala, 25 September 2015.  GIZ; Ministry of 
Industry, Trade and 
Cooperatives and 
Ministry of Health  The multi-stakeholder workshop deve loped recommendations on how to 
promote coherence among health, trade and industry policies for access 
to medicines and local production at the national level,  12 participants. 
UN Member States  Working Group on Intellectual Property 
at the UNCTAD Ad-Hoc Expert Meeting on Non-Tariff Measure (NTM) Classification. Geneva, 29 September 2015.  FAO; IMF; ITC; OECD; 
UNIDO; World Bank; WTO The objective of the working grou p is to start deliberations on 
developing an NTM taxonomy for in tellectual property rights. 40-50 
participants.  
Oman  National Innovation Strategy of Oman -  
Joint Workshop by the Omani Research 
Council and UNCTAD.  
Muscat, 15 October 2015 The Research Council of 
Oman The workshop will discuss the National Innovation Strategy and inter 
alia the role of IPRs.  
All countries  Global Academy for Innovation and 
Access ( http://www.gafia.info )  
Ongoing  BMZ, GIZ, UNIDO, South 
Centre Platform for UNCTAD e-learning courses on IPRs and forum for 
exchange among alumni of German -funded capacity development.  
All Countries The Convention on Biodiversity and the 
Nagoya Protocol: Intellectual Property 
Implications: A Handbook on the 
Interface between Global Access and 
Benefit Sharing Rules and Intellectual 
Property. BMZ The handbook provides for better understanding the intellectual 
property implications of the 1992 Co nvention on Biological Diversity and 
the 2010 Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair 
and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilization. 
 
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