WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/549/Add.3 
14 October 2010 
 
 (10-5295) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:  INFORMATION FROM 
OTHER INTERGOVERNMEN TAL ORGANIZATIONS 
 
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE  
AND DEVELOPMENT (UNCTAD) 
 
Addendum  
  
At its meeting of 8-9 June 2010, the Council fo r TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental 
organization observers to the Council to update th e information on their technical and financial 
cooperation programmes relating to the impl ementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  
The present document reproduces the informati on which has been received from the United 
Nations Conference on Trade and Development ( UNCTAD) by means of a communication dated 
4 October 2010.  
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  Responding to the mandate received from Member States at the Ministerial Conference in Accra, as well as to intergover nmental requests under the WIPO De velopment Agenda and the World 
Health Assembly's Resolution 61.21 on a Global Stra tegy and Plan of Action on Public Health, 
Innovation and Intellectual Property, the UNCTAD Secr etariat, through its Intellectual Property (IP) 
Unit, implements a work programme on the devel opment dimensions of IP rights.  The IP Unit 
conducts research and analysis on trade and deve lopment aspects of intellectual property and 
facilitates consensus-building in internationa l 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 Un it responds to requests for technical assistance 
through research and advises on policy options in th ese fields for successfully integrating developing 
countries into the world economy.   
I. RESEARCH AND POLICY ANALYSIS 
1. The UNCTAD-ICTSD (International Centre for Tr ade and Sustainable Development) Project 
on Intellectual Property Rights and Sustainable De velopment is intended to address the concerns 
voiced by developing countries with respect to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement and new 
developments in the area of intellectual property rights (IPRs) contained in multilateral treaties and 
regional and bilateral free trade agreements.
1  The project aims at improving the understanding of the 
development implications of IPRs, facilitating inform ed participation in ongoi ng multilateral, regional 
                                                      
1 Since 2001, the project has benefited from the financial support of the UK Department for 
International Development (DFID), the Swedish Intern ational Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and 
the Rockefeller Foundation . IP/C/W/549/Add.3 
Page 2  
 
  and bilateral negotiations, as well as assisting national authorities in the implementation of 
international IP commitments and adoption of fo rward-looking national IPRs policies.  Since 2007, 
the project has been aiming at assisting developing countries in integrating IP issues into their overall 
development objectives.  Specifically, UNCTAD pr ovides technical assistance to interested 
governments in the form of Development Dimensi on of Intellectual Property (DDIP) Reports (see 
below, Section II for details).  
2. In the area of research and policy analysis, UNCTAD and ICTSD continue the publication of 
a series of Policy Briefs  on the issues related to the implementation of the 45 WIPO Development 
Agenda recommendations.  The Policy Briefs aim at examining the issues in a creative manner with a 
view to identifying concrete recommendations and specific activities to foster implementation of the 
recommendations.  Briefs published by UNCTAD and ICTSD include, so far: 
(i) A2K and the WIPO Development Agenda:  Time to List the Public Domain, by Uma 
Suthersanen, Reader in IP Law and Policy, Sc hool of Law, Queen Mary University of 
London, December 2008 (Policy Brief No.1); 
 
(ii) Does TRIPS Art. 66.2 Encourage Tec hnology Transfer to LDCs? An Analysis of 
Country Submissions to the TRIPS Council (1999-2007) , by Suerie Moon, Giorgio 
Ruffolo Doctoral Research Fellow and Doctor al Candidate, Center for International 
Development, Kennedy School of Govern ment, Harvard University, December 2008 
(Policy Brief No.2); 
 
(iii) Addressing the Interface between Patents and Technical Standards  in International 
Trade Discussions , by David Vivas-Eugui, then Deputy Programmes Director, 
ICTSD and Pedro Roffe, Senior Rese arch Fellow, ICTSD, February 2009 
(Policy Brief No.3); 
 
(iv) Negotiating Trade, Innovation and In tellectual Property: Lessons from the 
CARIFORUM EPA Experience from  a Negotiator's Perspective , by Malcolm Spence, 
Senior Coordinator, Intellectual Property Science and Technology Issues, Caribbean 
Regional Negotiating Machinery, Sept ember 2009 (Policy Brief No. 4); 
 
(v) The Bayh-Dole Model in Developing Countri es: Reflections on the Indian Bill on 
Publicly Funded Intellectual Property , by Bhaven N. Sampat , Assistant Professor, 
Department of Health Policy and Mana gement, Columbia University, October 2009 
(Policy Brief No. 5); 
 
(vi) The Research and Experimentation E xceptions in Patent Law: Jurisdictional 
Variations and the WIPO Development Agenda , by Evans Misati, Kenya Industrial 
Property Office and Kiyoshi Adachi, Chief, IP Unit, UNCTAD, March 2010 (Policy Brief No. 7).  
 
3. Furthermore, the research and policy analysis conducted under this part nership to date has 
resulted in numerous other publications, including, inter alia : 
• A Resource Book on TRIPS and Development  providing a development-oriented 
analysis of each provision of the TRI PS Agreement, taking into account economic 
and social implications and IPR trends in  non-WTO fora.  The book is available on 
the project website ( http://www.iprsonline.org/
) and was published by Cambridge 
University Press in February of 2005. 
  IP/C/W/549/Add.3 
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  • An Issue Paper Series  on various topical IPR issues including transfer of technology, 
public health, geographical indications, nut rition, traditional kn owledge, TRIPS-plus 
in bilateral and regional agreements, innova tion, competition, and computer software 
(see at http://www.iprsonline.org/ ).  
 II. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE  
4. UNCTAD's IP Unit conducts technical assistance activities with developing countries in the 
integrated areas of investment, trade and IP.  These projects are on a request basis and funded by 
donor governments and institutions.  
A. IPR
S AND LOCAL PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY CAPACITY OF ESSENTIAL 
MEDICINES  
5. 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 17.2  The Commission recommended that: 
"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."3 
 6. In the pursuit of this mandate, UNCTAD est ablished in 2006 a pilot programme on local 
pharmaceutical production with the financial s upport 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 afford able medicines; and, where feasible, create local or regional 
pharmaceutical production and supply capacities, including in cooperation with investors.  The main 
activities of this programme are: 
• The preparation of a Stakeholders' Reference Guide to IP and Related Policies .  The 
objective is to provide concise and practi cal information on ways to promote local 
pharmaceutical production and improve acce ss to medicines through a variety of 
policy tools, focusing on the flexibilities provided under TRIPS, and the interfaces between IP, trade and investment, drugs re gulation and procurement strategies.  An 
advanced draft of the Guide is being u sed as the basis for training courses for 
stakeholders from selected developing count ries.  The Guide is currently being 
finalized.  
 
• The organization of training courses  for stakeholders from developing countries, 
using the above guide and accompanying trai ning materials.  The beneficiaries 
identified to date are Angola, Botswana, Ca meroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, 
Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozamb ique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, 
South Africa, Swaziland, the United Republic  of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the 
African Regional Intellectual Property Orga nization (ARIPO), the Association of 
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the East African Community (EAC), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the 
                                                     
 
 2 "In cooperation with pharmaceuti cal companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in 
developing countries".   
 3 See at http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/c2l22_en.pdf  (paragraph 9 (c) of the Agreed 
Recommendations).  IP/C/W/549/Add.3 
Page 4  
 
  Pacific (UNESCAP).  The targ et audience consists of government officials and policy 
makers; local pharmaceutical companies and their legal counsels; as well as civil society, and academia.  The objective is to familiarize course participants with the 
tools available under the TRIPS Agreement to  better align their intellectual property 
regimes with national health objectives.  The last regional course took place in Cape 
Town, South Africa, in December 2009 (see 
http://www.unctad.org/sections/dite _totip/docs/tot_ip_0025_en.pdf
).  It was 
organized by UNCTAD, ICTSD and Capac ity Building International, Germany 
(InWEnt) for Southern, Central and West African countries. The workshop examined TRIPS Agreement obligations and flexibiliti es available to developing countries and 
LDCs in particular that can support the local production of generic pharmaceuticals. 
 
• The preparation of country reports  on the national intellectual property and 
investment regimes of selected developing countries. These reports, which for the time being have been prepared for Ethiopia, Tanzania, and the EAC Secretariat, contain some detailed policy recommendations aimed at facilitating the establishment 
of local pharmaceutical production and supply capacity.  
 B. UNCTAD
 COUNTRY CASE STUDIES ON TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY FOR LOCAL 
PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES  
7. In response to the request under the World Hea lth Assembly's Resolution 61.21 on a Global 
Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health , Innovation and Intellectual Property, UNCTAD has 
been asked to analyze cases of transfers of technol ogies to developing countries regarding the local 
production of pharmaceutical products.  This activity is carried out under the umbrella of a broader 
project implemented by the World Health Organizat ion (WHO) and funded by the European Union.  
The objective of the UNCTAD case studies is to identif y factors that are key to successful transfers of 
pharmaceutical technology to enable viable produ ction of and access to medicines in developing 
countries.  UNCTAD is currently finalizing studi es that analyze technology transfers to local 
producers in the following countries:  Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Jordan, 
Thailand and Uganda.  The case studies were pres ented at three regional dialogues organized by 
ICTSD under the same project in late 2009 and ear ly 2010 and will feed into a methodology by WHO 
for assessing countries' capacities to improve access to  medicines through local production, as well as 
their prospects for improving health-related technology transfer.  
C. DEVELOPMENT DIMENSION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (DDIP)  REPORTS  
8. Under the most recent phase of the joint UNCTAD-ICTSD Project on IPRs and Sustainable 
Development, UNCTAD is producin g, upon request by a developi ng country or least-developed 
country, a number of reports on the development di mensions of intellectual property (DDIP).  The 
objective of a DDIP report is to examine devel oping countries' and LDCs' policy, legal and 
institutional framework for IPRs, particularly as it re lates to important development objectives such as 
innovation, technology, investment, competition, e ducation and health.  In addition, a DDIP report 
will take into consideration the b ilateral, regional and international commitments the target countries 
have entered into and the flexibilities available to them.   
9. Based on this analysis, the reports will incor porate medium to long-term recommendations on 
how governments and other stakeholders coul d make these frameworks more coherent and 
transparent, with a view to making IPRs contri bute 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 syst em.  The DDIP reports ta ke due account of the  IP/C/W/549/Add.3 
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  importance of maintaining an appropriate public dom ain and the means to pursue important public 
interest objectives.  
10. Following an earlier request from Uganda's Minist ry of Trade, Tourism and Industry (MTTI), 
UNCTAD in June 2010 presented the first DDIP report on Uganda to the country's Minister of State for Trade and other Ugandan stakeholders.  Th e policy recommendations contained in the DDIP 
report are based on stakeholder interviews and peer reviews undertaken throughout 2008 and 2009. 
The DDIP report Uganda is available at http://www.unctad.org/ddip
.  
11. Responding to a request from Cambodia's Mini stry of Commerce, UNCTAD is currently 
finalizing its second DDIP report. The policy recomm endations are based on a fact finding mission to 
Phnom Penh in February 2010.  Th e final report will be presented to the Cambodian Government later 
this year, along with a report by ICTSD regard ing Cambodia's technical and financial cooperation 
needs for the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  
D. RWANDA : IP NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND IP POLICY /STRATEGY FOR IMPLEMENTATION  
12. Based on the 2009 "Draft Rwanda Intellectual Property Policy and Implementation Strategy", 
which UNCTAD helped Rwanda elaborate, Rw anda's Cabinet in March 2010 adopted the Rwanda 
Intellectual Property Policy , which provides for guidance and a road map on how to align the 
country's IP framework with Rwanda's national de velopment policy, Vision 2020. Based on a parallel 
exercise by ICTSD in 2009, Rwanda in June 2010 communicated to the Council for TRIPS the country's priority needs for technical and financ ial cooperation (see document IP/C/W/548 of 7 June 
2010). UNCTAD's draft IP policy and ICTSD's draf t report on technical and financial cooperation 
needs respond to two requests from Rwanda's Minist ry for Trade and Industry (MINICOM) made in 
2008. Both documents were based on stakeholder in terviews and were unanimously endorsed at a 
stakeholder workshop in March 2009 in Kigali.  
E. I
NDONESIA : STUDY ON SOME ASPECTS OF THE INDONESIAN PATENT SYTEM  
13. In July 2010, UNCTAD received a request fo r technical assistance from the Directorate 
General of Intellectual Property Rights in the Mini stry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of 
Indonesia. UNCTAD is requested to conduct a fact-f inding mission and prepare a study on the issues 
of patents and public health, patents and transf er of technology and patents and policies on anti-
competitive practices, against the background of curr ent efforts to amend Indonesian patent law.  
F. COOPERATION WITH OTHER PROVIDERS OF IP-RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE  
14. 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, IP 
Unit staff actively participated in the WTO work shops for least-developed country Members and 
observers from English-speaking Africa in Entebbe , Uganda (June 2010) and from the Asia-Pacific 
region in Dhaka, Bangladesh (July 2010).  UNCTAD' s IP Unit was also invited to a regional dialogue 
on technical assistance needs for Andean countries on the biodiversity and IPR nexus in Lima, Peru, 
organized by Gesellschaft für Technische Zusa mmenarbeit (GTZ, Germany) and ICTSD.  The 
UNCTAD representative presented a comparative overview of disclosure requirements in national 
patent and access and benefit sharing laws.  
III. CONSENSUS-BUILDING  
15. 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, IP/C/W/549/Add.3 
Page 6  
 
  where governments, academia, civil society and th e private sector can meet to exchange ideas. 
Examples of the IP programme's consensu s-building activities include the following: 
• In September 2010, UNCTAD participated in a Dialogue on IPRs in Bilateral and 
Regional Trade Agreements and Public Health , organized by ICTSD and the Quaker 
United Nations Office (QUNO), Geneva.  The UNCTAD representative made a 
presentation on "IP Provisions in Bilatera l and Regional Trade Agreements and 
Public Health". 
 
• In July 2010, UNCTAD participated with one expert in the First Intersessional 
Working Group of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property 
and Genetic Resources, Traditio nal Knowledge and Folklore , which focused on 
traditional cultural expressions/expressions of folklore.  
 
• In May 2010, the Secretariat of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa 
(COMESA) organized a brainstorming workshop on IP rights, with the participation 
of UNCTAD's IP Unit.  The UNCTAD representative provided an overview of UNCTAD's IP work programme and advised on a number of issues in the area of IP and development.  
 
• In May 2010, UNCTAD participated in the WIPO Symposium on Intellectual 
Property and Competition  Policy , by making a presentation on "Competition Law 
and Policy and Intellectual Property" .  
 
• In April 2010, UNCTAD provided comments during a book launch by ICTSD at the 
fifth meeting of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property 
(CDIP).  The book Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development: Development 
Agendas in a Changing World  collects important papers from a number of policy 
dialogues that were jointly hosted by UNCTAD and ICTSD during the mid-2000s, and which had an influence in shaping the WIPO Development Agenda. 
 
• In February 2010, UNCTAD pa rticipated in the WIPO Symposium on the Evolution 
of the Regulatory  Framework of Test Data – From th e Property of the Intellect to the 
Intellect of Property , by making a presentation on "Test Data Protection – The 
UNCTAD Perspective". 
 
• In November 2009, UNCTAD participated in a Dialogue on IPRs in Bilateral and 
Regional Trade Agreements  and Public Health , organized by ICTSD and QUNO, 
Geneva, through a presentation on "IP Provi sions in Bilateral and Regional Trade 
Agreements and Public Health".  
 
• In November 2009, UNCTAD and ICTSD in collaboration with the Office of the 
United Nations High Commissioner for Huma n Rights (OHCHR) organized an event 
at WIPO on The WIPO  Development Agenda and the Right to Development:  
Towards Bridging the Gap?   The aim of the event was to examine possible linkages 
and synergies between the WIPO Development Agenda implementation process and the Right to Development in the context of the wider nexus between intellectual 
property and human rights.  
 
•
 In October 2009, UNCTAD participated in a training course organized by ICTSD for 
Latin American judges on public health-related IPRs ( Seminario para jueces sobre 
tendencias recientes en materia de propiedad intelectual con particular énfasis en la  IP/C/W/549/Add.3 
 Page 7 
 
 
  industria farmacéutica ).  UNCTAD made a presentation on "The Protection of 
Pharmaceutical Test Data under TRIPS and FTAs".  
 
• In October 2009, UNCTAD participated in an open ended forum organized by WIPO 
on proposed WIPO Development Agenda projects.  
 
For more information, please visit:  http://www.unctad.org/ddip ;  and  http://www.iprsonline.org . 
 
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