RESTRICTED  
  
WT/WGTTT/M/50  
 
28 January 2016  
(16-0605)  Page: 1/3  
Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology 
Fiftieth Session    
 
 NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 20 OCTOBER 2015 
Chairperson: H.E. Mr. Luc-Joseph Okio (Congo) 
A. ADOPTION OF TH E AGENDA .................................................................................... 1  
B. ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADE AND TRANSFER OF  
TECHNOLOGY .......................................................................................................... 1  
C. ANY POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS ON STEPS THAT MIGHT BE TAKEN 
WITHIN  THE MANDATE OF THE WTO TO INCREASE FLOWS OF 
TECHNOLOGY TO  DEVE LOPING COUN TRIES ........................................................... 2  
D. OTHER BUSINESS .................................................................................................... 3  
 
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The agenda contained in Airgram WTO/AIR/WGTTT/3 of 9 October 2015 was adopted. 
2. The Chairman noted that under the agenda item "Other Business," he would share his 
thoughts on the Annual Report of the Group to the General Council. 
B. ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADE AND TRANSFER OF 
TECHNOLOGY  
3. Under the agenda item relating to the anal ysis of the relationship between trade and 
transfer of technology, one Member noted that at the United Nations Summit on Sustainable 
Development 2015, the United Nations had adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 17 namely "Strengthen the 
means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development", inter 
alia, stressed on trade and technology for achieving sustainable development, in particular, under 
targets 17.6 and 17.7 on technology, 17.11 on trade and 17.16 on multi-stakeholder partnerships.   
4. He went on to state that technology and technical know-how were essential for improving 
productivity, promoting export growth and attain ing the development aspirations of all Members, 
especially of the developing countries and LDCs. Th erefore, technology transfer should be seen as 
an important tool to narrow the technological gap between developed and developing countries, 
for integrating developing countries into the global trading system through trade and technology 
transfer, and thus facilitating their greater participation in an ever globalizing economy, and also enabling them to meet their international obligations.  
5. Experience sharing, particularly by countries that have undergone rapid technological 
development in the last few decades, would allow the developing countries to make more informed choices in their development processes. 
6. The representative of Chinese Taipei offered to share experiences from various development 
cooperation programmes. These could include, in particular, the e-Customs ICT Project on Trade 
Facilitation to Central American countries, as well as other agriculture and aquaculture projects in developing countries.  WT/WGTTT/M/50 
 
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  7. The Chairman highlighted the importance of Members volunteering to share their national 
perspective and experience on technology, its generation, transfer, absorption and the role it 
might have played in economic development of th e country to enrich the discussions of the Group. 
C. ANY POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS ON STEPS THAT MIGHT BE TAKEN WITHIN 
THE MANDATE OF THE WTO TO INCREASE FLOWS OF TECHNOLOGY TO  
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 
8. In reminding Members that in July 2008, India, Pakistan and the Philippines had tabled a 
room document titled "Facilitating Access to Information on Appropriate Technology Sourcing - A 
Step to Increase Flows of Technology to Developing Countries", the proponents stated that one possible recommendation contained in the document was to develop a webpage that would provide information on technology transfer-related subjects, thereby, facilitating technology transfer 
among the WTO Members. The webpage, inter alia , would provide information on technology 
transfer-related subjects including: reports by  developed Members to the TRIPS Council on the 
nature of incentives that they were offering to their firms and institutions to facilitate technology 
transfer to LDCs in fulfilment of Article 66.2 of th e TRIPS Agreement; countries, firms, institutions 
would post requests on specific technology needs and technology offers; and, among others, to provide links to WIPO and key IP Offices like United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) 
and European Patent Office (EPO).  
9. The proponents went on to state that a Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM) was 
launched by the United Nations as a part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The TFM, which was established by the Addis Ababa Action Agenda in order to support the SDGs, 
would comprise: a United Nations inter-agency task team on science, technology and innovation 
for the SDGs; a collaborative annual multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation (STI) for the SDGs; an online platform as a gateway for information on existing STI 
initiatives, mechanisms and programmes. 
10. Referring to paragraph 70 of the Post-2015 Development Agenda Outcome document, the 
proponents stated that the online platform would be used to establish a comprehensive mapping 
of, and serve as a gateway for, information on existing STI initiatives, mechanisms and 
programmes, within and beyond the United Nations. Furthermore, the online platform would facilitate access to information, knowledge and experience, as well as best practices and lessons learned, on STI facilitation initiatives and polici es. The online platform would also facilitate the 
dissemination of relevant open-access scientific publications generated worldwide.   
11. In this regard, it was further stated that international organizations host online platforms 
with regard to technology transfer. For exampl e, the World Intellectual Property Organization 
(WIPO) hosts two such online platforms: (i) WIPO GREEN is an interactive marketplace that 
promotes innovation and diffusion of green tec hnologies; and (ii) WIPO Re:Search catalyzes the 
development of medical products for neglected tropical diseases, malaria, and tuberculosis through 
innovative research partnerships and knowledge sharing. 
12. Similar specialized webpages had also been developed in the WTO, such as the dedicated 
webpage on Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), on  Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) and the 
dedicated website for the new Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility (TFAF) to serve as a focal point 
for Members, donors, and others seeking information on the new TFAF.  
13. For the above reasons, the proponents reit erated that the Working Group consider 
recommending the launch of a dedicated webpage on  Trade and Transfer of Technology in the 
WTO. The dedicated webpage would be hosted by the WTO and managed by the Secretariat as it is 
done presently in cases of other dedicated webpages/websites like the dedicated webpage on RTAs, dedicated webpage on EIF and dedicated website on TFAF. With regard to content, the 
webpage could post the reports by developed Me mbers to the TRIPS Council on the nature of 
incentives that they are offering to their firms and institutions to facilitate technology transfer to LDCs in fulfilment of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agre ement; countries, firms, institutions could post 
requests on specific technology needs and/or tec hnology offers; provide links to WIPO and key IP 
Offices like USPTO and EPO, etc.  WT/WGTTT/M/50 
 
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  14. Members were also informed that the proponents were still working on a paper on possible 
recommendations on trade and transfer of technology and requested other Members to come with suggestions on the possible recommendations to increase flows of technology to developing countries within the mandate of the Working Group. 
15. While some Members expressed interest in the proposal for a dedicated webpage on Trade 
and Transfer of Technology, others expressed intere st in receiving further detail on what would be 
the contents of the website. In this regard, th e proponents were asked to make a more detailed 
written proposal so that it could be analysed by the Working Group at its next meeting. 
16. The Chairman encouraged the proponents to table a written submission on the proposed 
webpage for discussion in the Working Group. 
D. OTHER BUSINESS 
17. The Chairman recalled that the Working Group is  mandated to make a report to the General 
Council each year, and in the years of the Ministerial Council, a report to Ministers. Accordingly, he 
had prepared, on his own responsibility, a factual report on the work undertaken in the last two 
years. The report was factual and followed the format of previous reports. 
18. The Working Group approved, ad referendum, its annual report to the General Council and 
for onward transmission to the 10th Ministerial Conference. The Chair would circulate a final 
version of the report, reflecting discussion that took place in the current meeting, for comments, if 
any, by 29 October 2015. He informed Members that, in case no substantive comments were received by the cut-off-date, the report would be considered to have been adopted and would thereby be transmitted to the General Council. 
19. The Chairman also informed Members that the Secretariat was working on a revised version 
of the summary note on the discussions in th e Working Group on Trade and Transfer of 
Technology contained in document JOB(09)/18. This responded to the request of Members and 
was being prepared on the Secretariat's own respon sibility without prejudice to Members' views on 
various issues presently under discussion in the Group. 
 
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