IP/C/W/633/Add.7  
 
9 October 2017  
(17-5426) Page: 1/7 
Council for Trade -Relat ed Aspects of Intellectual 
Property Rights  Original: English  
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATIO N ACTIVITIES: INFORM ATION FROM  
OTHER INTERGOVERNMEN TAL ORGANIZATIONS  
UNITED NATIONS CONFE RENCE ON  TRADE AND DEVELOPMEN T (UNCTAD)  
Addendum  
At its meeting of 13 June 2017 , 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 2017 . 
 
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The UNCTAD Secretariat, through its Intellectual Property (IP) Unit implements a work programme 
on the development dimensions of intellectual property (IP) rights. The work programme is 
designed to respond to the mandate received from Member States at the Ministerial Conference in 
Nairobi (July 2016), as well as to intergovernmental requests under the WIPO Development 
Agenda and the World Health Assembly 's Resolution 61.21 on a Global Strategy and Plan of Action 
on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property. The IP Unit, located in the Division on 
Investment and Enterprise, conducts research and policy analysis on trade a nd development 
aspects of IP, facilitates consensus -building and responds to requests for technical assistance and 
advises on policy options for successfully integrating developing countries into the world economy. 
This document provides an overview of UNC TAD's IP and development -related activities during 
the period of November 2016 to October 2017. More information on past activities is available at 
www.unctad.org/ddip ; and  www.iprsonline.org . 
TECHNICAL COOPERATIO N 1  
1.  On a request basis, UNCTAD 's IP Unit conducts technical cooperation activities with developing 
countries in the integrated areas of investment, trade and intellectual property. The technical 
assistance activities are partly funded by donor governments and institutions.  
2.  IP rights and local pharmaceutical production and supply capacity of essential 
medicines.  UNCTAD was request ed by its Commission on Investment, Technology and Related 
Financial Issues (2005) to assess ways in which developing countries can develop their domestic 
productive capability in the supply of essential drugs in cooperation with pharmaceutical 
companies.1 In the pursuit of this mandate, UNCTAD implements a work programme on local 
pharmaceutical production, with a view to assisting developing countries and least -developed 
countries (LDCs) in particular, to utilise IP rights as tools that facilitate increase d access to 
affordable medicines, and, where feasible, to promote domestic and foreign investment to create 
local or regional pharmaceutical production and supply capacities. The programme is supported by 
the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperatio n and Development (BMZ).  
                                                
1 See at http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/c2l22_en.pdf  (paragraph 9 (c) of the Agreed  
Recommendations).  IP/C/W/633/Add.7  
 
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  3.  Policy coherence for local pharmaceutical production. Funded by the German 
International Cooperation (GIZ), UNCTAD's work programme assists developing countries' efforts 
to promote coherence of policies in respect of health, trade and industrial development and 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).  
4.  IP rights, investment, technology tra nsfer and trade facilitation. In 2016, UNCTAD 
launched its technical assistance programme on IP, transfer of technology and trade facilitation, 
with the financial support from the Government of Germany (BMZ). The programme focuses on 
the use of IP regimes for the promotion of technological absorption capacities and discusses 
the use of IP rights such as trademarks  for trade facilitation.  
5.  IP rights and biodiversity.  In 2011, UNCTAD launched its technical assistance programme 
on IP and biodiversity, with fina ncial support from the Government of Germany (BMZ) and in 
cooperation with GIZ. The programme has focused on the building of local capacities, in 
developing countries, to design and enforce domestic trade, customs and IP laws in line with 
access and benefi t sharing rules under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), its Nagoya 
Protocol and the UN Declaration of the Ri ghts of the Indigenous Peoples.  
6.  Development Dimension of Intellectual Property (DDIP) and other advisory reports.  
UNCTAD provides, 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 th ey wish to examine. A DDIP 
report will take into consideration the socio -economic situation of the requesting country, 
the bilateral, regional and international commitments the target countries have entered into and 
the flexibilities available to them. Bas ed 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 IP rights contribute to 
a country 's sustainable econ omic and human development goals, and respond to  emerging global 
opportunities.  
7.  Cooperation with other providers of IP -related technical assistance.  At the request of 
the Ethiopian Government, UNCTAD works closely with the WHO on the implementation of 
the National Strategy and  Plan of Action for  Pharmaceutical  Manufacturing Development (2015 -
2025). Staff of UNCTAD 's IP Unit frequently participate s in capacity -building workshops on IP and 
development issues organized by other providers of IP -related technica l assistance. For instance, 
UNCTAD was invited by WIPO and WTO to contribute to the 2017 WIPO -WTO Advanced Course on 
IP for Government Officials. In April and May 2017, UNCTAD invited WTO to make contributions to 
two multi -stakeholder workshops organised b y UNCTAD in Senegal and Cuba, respectively.  
RESEARCH AND POLICY ANALYSIS  2  
8.  UNCTAD undertakes research and analysis on trade and development aspects of IP and 
provides advisory reports for developing countries. Currently, UNCTAD is  finalizing a "Tool Box for 
Policy Coherence in Access to Medicines and Local Pharmaceutical Production ", in collaboration 
with GIZ. The Tool Box is designed as a quick reference tool for developing country policy makers 
on the various policies related to health, industrial developme nt, trade, investment, innovation and 
IP and how they may be used to contribute to local production and access to medicines.  
CONSENSUS -BUILDING  3  
9.  Consensus -building among stakeholders on issues of IP is an important element of 
the programme 's work. UNCTAD 's substantive contributions on the 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 
exchang e ideas.  IP/C/W/633/Add.7  
 
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  The list of activities for the period between 1 November 2016 and 15 October 2017 is attached as 
an annex to this report. For more information on UNCTAD 's activities related to IP, please visit:  
http://unctad.org/ddip ; and www.iprsonline.org .  
 
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  IP/C/W/633/Add.7  
 
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UNCTAD 'S TECHNICAL COOPERAT ION ACTIVITIES IN TH E TRIPS AREA FROM 1 NOVEMBER 2016 TO 15 OCTOBER 2017  
Beneficiary 
country(ies)  Title and date of the event/activity  Partner agency  Description  
Viet Nam  Capacity building workshop on IP provisions in 
preferential trade and investment agreements 
and patent examination guidelines for 
pharmaceutical products, from 1 - 3 November 
2016, Hanoi, Viet  Nam UNCTAD, UNDP and the 
Vietnamese National 
Office of Intellectual 
Property (NOIP).  Participants discussed the implications of free trade 
agreements on the examination of pharmaceutical 
patents and  the Vietnamese examination guidelines 
for pharmaceutical patents.  
EAC Secretariat 
and Partner States  1st International High Level Multi -Stakeholders 
Conference on Promoting Pharmaceutical Sector 
Investments in the East African Community 
Region, 2 – 4 November 2016, Nairobi, Kenya  EAC Secretariat, 
UNCTAD  UNCTAD presented the recommendations o f an 
advisory report prepared for the EAC and provided 
feedback on the incentive package proposed by 
the Federation of East African Pharmaceutical 
Manufacturers' Association. The final resolution of 
the Conference adopted several of UNCTAD's 
recommendation s. 
EAC Secretariat 
and Partner States  UNCTAD comments on and substantive inputs to 
the EAC Draft Regional Pharmaceutical 
Manufacturing Plan of Action (RPMPOA) 2017 -
2027, January 2017, Geneva  UNCTAD, EAC 
Secretariat  UNCTAD provided comments related to (1) IP 
flexibilities and (2) policy coherence in local 
production policies.  
Mexico  Seminars on Intellectual Property and the Public 
Interest in Mexico. 23 -25 November 2016, 
Mexico City, Mexico  UNCTAD  UNCTAD conducted a series of seminars on IP and 
local p harmaceutical production. These involved 
the Mexican Federal Court of Administrative Justice, 
legal Advisers of the Mexican Generic Producers 
Association (ANAFAM), generic company owners, 
and the Mexican Office of Industrial Property (IMPI)  
South Africa  Intellectual Property Rights and Public Health, 
National Training of Judges in South Africa  
24-25 January 2017, Pretoria, South Africa  UNCTAD , South African 
Judicial Education 
Institute  Judges Training with the collaboration of the South 
African Judicial E ducation Institute. The activity was 
related to pharmaceutical patent law and 
the interface between intellectual property and 
competition law.  
                                                
1 In English only.   
  IP/C/W/633/Add.7  
 
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country(ies)  Title and date of the event/activity  Partner agency  Description  
Mexico  Seminars on Intellectual Property and Public 
Health 26 & 27 January 2017, Mexico City, 
Mexico  UNCTAD, Mexican 
Supreme Court, 
Mexican Drug 
Regulatory Authority 
(COFEPRIS)  Seminars for (1) judges of the Mexican Supreme 
Court and (2) COFEPRIS  
Ecuador  Uso de la Propiedad Intelectual para el Comercio 
y Desarrollo  
14-16 March 2017, Quito, Ecuador  UNCTAD,  
Ecuadorian Institute of 
Intellectual Property 
(IEPI)  A multi-stakeholder workshop on Intellectual 
Property for Trade, Development and Transfer of 
Technology.  
 
WIPO Member 
States, WTO 
Members  WIPO -WTO Advanced Course on IP for 
Government Officials  
21 March 2017, Geneva  WIPO, WTO  Presentation on UNCTAD's activities in the area of 
IPRs and development. 25 -30 participants.  
 
Philippines  Philippines National Workshop on Intellectual 
Property Provisions in Preferential Trade and 
Investment Agreements  
21-22 March 2017, Manila, Philippines  UNCTAD, IPOPHL  (1) Workshop on Free Trade Agreements and the 
TPP. 
(2) Training on the examination of pharmaceutical 
patents.  
OAPI countries  Regional Workshop on Technology Transfer and 
Public Health  
10 - 12 April 2017, Dakar, Senegal  UNCTAD, UNDP, 
UNAIDS, YOLSE Santé 
Publique Internationale  The focus of the workshop was the promotion of 
technology transfer for access to medicines through 
the use of TRIPS flexibilities   
Indonesia  Indonesian National Capacity Building Wo rkshop 
on Intellectual Property Provisions in Preferential 
Trade and Investment Agreements  
18-19 May 2017, Jakarta, Indonesia  UNCTAD and 
Directorate General of 
Intellectual Property  
 (1) Workshop on Free Trade Agreements  
(2) Training on the examination of pharmaceutical 
patents.  
Cuba National Workshop on the Flexibilities of the 
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)  
23,24 and 26 May 2017, La Havana, Cuba  UNCTAD, Intellectual 
Property Office of Cuba  The purpose of this event was to analyse and 
discuss the implementation of TRIPS flexibilities and 
of innovation opportunities in the Cuban Patent 
System.  
Peru  Economic study on the impact and benefits of 
Peru becoming a Party of the Protocol Relating 
to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the 
International Registration of Marks  
(ongoing)  UNCTAD , Peruvian 
Institute for 
Competition and 
Intellectual Property 
(INDECOPI)  The use of trademarks may be an important tool for 
trade facilitation. T his study analyses the possible 
implications in Peru of the country's accession to 
the Madrid Protocol. It compares previous studies, 
elaborates a database relying on WIPO and 
INDECOPI sources, provides an econometric model 
to analyse factors that have an impact on 
trademark applications in Peru, and provides  
  IP/C/W/633/Add.7  
 
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country(ies)  Title and date of the event/activity  Partner agency  Description  
a number of policy recommendations on how Peru 
may best benefit from the Madrid Protocol.  
Bhutan  Bhutan National Workshop on International 
Access and Benefit Sharing Rules and 
the Designation of Checkpoints, 21 August 2017, 
Thimpu, Bhutan  UNCTAD and the 
Kingdom of Bhutan 's 
National Biodiversity 
Centre (NBC)  The objective of the Workshop was to analyze the 
unique role that intellectual property offices could 
play in providing information relevant to identifying 
possible instances of non -compliance with 
the Nagoya Protocol. The workshop had also 
suggested that other agencies could potentially 
provide relevant information to the competent 
authority.  
Thailand  National Workshop o n Preferential Trade and 
Investment Agreements and Access to 
Medicines: The Knowledge Gap.  
23-25 August 2017, Bangkok, Thailand  UNCTAD, Thai 
International Health 
Policy Program (IHPP) 
of the Ministry of 
Health, UNDP.  The purpose of the event was to build domestic 
capacities in assessing the impact of IP provisions 
in free trade agreements for domestic public health 
policies.  
Ecuador  National Workshop on Intellectual Property as a 
tool for Innovation, Science and Technology, 19, 
20 and 21 September 2017 Quito, Ecuador.  UNCTAD, Ecuadorian 
Institute of Intellectual 
Property (IEPI)  The purpose of the workshop was to analyze the 
role of the registration, protection and exploitation 
of intellectual property technology to boost 
innovation and transfer of techno logy. As 
a secondary objective the workshop discussed 
the links between the sector of research and 
productive sector for the establishment of new 
mechanisms of transfer of technology with support 
and guide of the  IEPI. 
South Africa  Consultative Framework for Intellectual Property 
in South Africa, Workshop, 
28-30 September  2016, Pretoria, South Africa.  The Department of 
Trade and Industry 
(dti) of the Republic of 
South Africa, UNDP  The workshop facilitated consultation among 
government agencies, civil society and private 
sector, on the dti Consultative Framework for 
Intellectual Property. 50 participants.  
All countries  Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting on New 
Investment Models in Health -related R&D - The 
Case of Antibiotic Resistance, 5 October 2017, 
Geneva  UNCTAD  Antibiotic resistance poses a serious challenge to 
public health, but also raises the important question 
about much -needed research and development 
(R&D), and the limitations of traditional models of 
investment and IPR. The reasons for antibiotic  
  IP/C/W/633/Add.7  
 
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country(ies)  Title and date of the event/activity  Partner agency  Description  
resistance are diverse but affects developed and 
developing countries alike. The main problem, from 
the investment perspective, is a lack of incentives 
for the private sector to develop n ew classes of 
antibiotics. This AEGM contributed to answer 
the question on how to attract investment for 
the development of new antibiotics.  
All countries  Global Academy for Innovation and Access 
(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.  
 
 
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