. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/WGTTT/M/39 
4 May 2012 
 (12-2402) 
Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology 
Thirty-Ninth Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 15 MARCH 2012 
 
Chairpersons:  H.E. Mrs. Mari on V. Williams (Barbados) and 
Mr. Carlos Rossi (Peru) 
 
 
A.  ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  ......................................................................................................... 1  
B.  ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON  ........................................................................................................ 1  
C.  ANY POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS ON STEPS T HAT MIGHT BE TAKEN WITHIN THE 
MANDATE OF THE WTO TO INCREASE FLOWS OF TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOPING 
COUNTRIES  .............................................................................................................................. .... 2 
D.  OTHER BUSINESS  ......................................................................................................................... 2  
 
 A. 
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The agenda contained in Airgram WT O/AIR/3900 of 5 March 2012 was adopted. 
B. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON  
2. The meeting was opened by the outgoing Chairp erson Ambassador Marion V. Williams of  
Barbados.  Members formally elected Mr. Carlos Ro ssi of Peru as Chairman of the Working Group on 
Trade and Transfer of Technology for the year 201 2.  The incoming Chairman thanked Members for 
the confidence that they had reposed in him and for entrusting him with the important task of chairing 
the Working Group.  He also thanked the outgo ing Chairperson, Ambassador Mrs. Marion V. 
Williams of Barbados for her leadership which had helped to advance the work in the Group during 
the past year.   
3. At the outset, the incoming Chairman made a brief presentation that recapitulated the work 
undertaken by the Working Group since its inception in 2002.  Recalling the mandate of the Working 
Group, he shared his thoughts on how, he believe d, the work in the Working Group could proceed 
during the year 2012.  On the examination of th e relationship between trade and transfer of 
technology, he stated that work had progressed on the basis of submissions by Members, contribution 
by the Secretariat, presentations and sharing of wo rk/studies by other intern ational organizations and 
academics, as well as national experiences.  The di scussion in the Working Group had, among others, 
pointed to the fact that in the context of inte rnational competitiveness and shortening of technology 
life-cycles, economic agents took decisions of transfer of technology using various channels, 
including those of trade and foreign direct invest ments (FDIs).  On the trade side, the presentations 
and submissions had highlighted trade in interm ediate and capital goods, research and development 
(R&D) content of imports, trade in business and professional services, export base, and import 
competition.  On the FDI side, the presentations pointed to the difference between vertical and 
horizontal FDI, licensing, joint ventures and fra nchising as types of companies' partnerships, WT/WGTTT/M/39 
Page 2  
 
  technology content of FDI, corporate development responsibility, FDI in R& D and FDI linkage with 
small and medium enterprises (SMEs).  In parallel, it was noted that the internationalization of R&D and access to the internet played an important role in knowledge-sharing and its transfer.  The 
presentations had also shown that the intellectual property rights (IPR) regimes and technology had a 
cost, and that it was necessary to pay  royalties and licensing fees.  The role of international 
cooperation was also underscored.  However, the pr esentations found that but little work had focused 
on the role of tax agreements, bilateral investme nt treaties (BITs) or regional trade agreements 
(RTAs) and their effects and international value chains, from the point of view of the holder of 
technology.  The Chairman stated that the Worki ng Group may need to focus on some of these issues 
as part of its work in 2012.   
4. The Chairman went on to state that he intended to informally consult with Members prior to 
the next formal session in June 2012 with a view to elicit their views on how to structure work for the 
current year.  He stated that his priority w ould be to organize frequent presentations by other 
international organizations, including the private se ctor on issues that reinforce the work of the 
Working Group on the relationship between trade and transfer of technology.  In addition, he would 
encourage country presentations that highlighted  national experiences with innovation, technology 
generation and its transfer.  He also suggested that the Secretariat update the bibliography on 
technology transfer that was done in 2002.   
5. While appreciating the Chairman's presentation laden with useful information on the work 
undertaken by the Working Group during the last ten years, Members also expressed commitment 
towards fulfilling the mandate of the Group and their support for his efforts in this regard. Members 
further welcomed the suggestion to invite OECD to share its work on global value chains in the 
context of technology transfer.  Members also agreed that the Secretariat should update the 
bibliography on technology transfer that had been done in 2002.   
C. 
ANY POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS ON  STEPS THAT MIGHT BE TAKEN WITHIN THE MANDATE 
OF THE WTO TO INCREASE FLOWS OF TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES  
6. Under the agenda item on possible recommendations  that the Working Group could make in 
the future, Members continued their discussion of  an earlier submission entitled ''Facilitating Access 
to Information on Appropriate Technology Sourcing – Steps to Increase Flows of Technology to Developing Countries''.  Since the submission of th is room document in 2008, a numbers of Members 
have commented and raised questions on some elemen ts of the document.  In that context, these 
Members asked the proponents whether the submission was still of some interest to them and if they 
were considering to submit a revised version of  the document based on the discussion and feedback 
they had thus far received.  The proponents r esponded by stating that they would soon submit a 
revised version of the room document.   
D. 
OTHER BUSINESS  
7. No issue was raised under "Other Business".   
8. The meeting was adjourned.   
 
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