COMMUNICATION FROM INDIA

The following communication, dated 23 December 2025, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of India.

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At the 75^th Session of the WGTTT, at the request of India, a discussion under the agenda item "Advancing discussions on technology transfer – progress towards MC14" was held on 16 July 2025. In pursuant to that, India would like to table the proposal for a "Draft Ministerial Declaration on Enabling the Transfer of Relevant and Advanced Technology for Trade" and look forward to engaging with the Membership towards MC14.

DRAFT MINISTERIAL DECLARATION ON ENABLING THE TRANSFER OF
RELEVANT AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY FOR TRADE

[14TH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE, YAOUNDE, CAMEROON]

The Ministerial Conference,

Reaffirming the mandates contained in the Paragraph 37 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration (_WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1, 20 November 2001), and Paragraph 43 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration (_WT/MIN(05)/DEC, 18 December 2005);

Recalling the importance of optimal utilization of the world’s resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development;

Recalling further that there is a need for positive efforts designed to ensure that developing countries and the least developed among them, secure a share in the growth in the international trade commensurate with their needs for economic development;

Recalling that developed Members would fully take into account the particular needs and conditions of developing and least developed country Members by providing for a greater improvement of opportunities and terms of access for agricultural products of particular interest to the developing and least developed country Members;

Recognizing that technical regulations, standards, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, although important to trade, can effectively prohibit or restrict trade even if an exporting Member may have an inherent comparative advantage;

Recognizing further that access to relevant and advanced technology, particularly Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs), would facilitate the increasing participation of developing and least-developed country Members in trade in services and the expansion of their service exports, including in particular through the strengthening of their domestic services capacity and its efficiency and competitiveness;

Taking particular account of the concentration of technological capabilities and the persistent barriers faced by developing and least developed country Members in acquiring, adapting, and effectively utilising critical technologies, including barriers such as restrictive export controls on inputs such as semiconductor chips and rare earth minerals, high costs of technology access, inflexible intellectual property regimes, funding needs, and domestic capacity constraints related to skills and infrastructure, all of which undermine equitable access to technology and exacerbate global inequalities in trade;

Desiring a detailed examination of the provisions relating to technology transfer contained in WTO agreements, including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), with a view to making these provisions operational and meaningful from the perspective of developing and least-developed country Members;

Recognising further the need to study the specific hurdles and challenges these Members face in accessing, adapting, and benefiting from relevant and advanced technologies, particularly ESTs, relating to these agreements, and to identify any provisions and mitigate any effects that hinder technology transfer;

Endeavouring to promote collaborative approaches within the WTO, and to strengthen mutually supportive relationships with relevant international organizations – including the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), World Health Organization (WHO), and World Bank, with a view to facilitating the flow of technology to developing and least-developed country Members; and

Considering that appropriate measures are urgently needed to prevent practices which unreasonably restrain trade or adversely affects the international transfer of technology;

Hereby:

1._    Instructs the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology to engage in focussed discussion to facilitate and promote the development and transfer of relevant and advanced technology, particularly ESTs, to developing and least developed country Members;

2._    Instructs the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology to examine the specific challenges encountered by the developing and least-developed country Members due to the lack of relevant and advanced technology, particularly ESTs, and make recommendations which identify the prevailing technological gaps that impede these Members' abilities to benefit from the multilateral trading system established by the WTO Agreement that are needed so as to secure a fair and equitable share in international trade, including barriers arising from restrictive intellectual property protection and licensing practices, and the limited operationalization of TRIPS flexibilities relevant for technology transfer;

3._    Instructs the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology to make practical recommendations to the next Ministerial Conference through the General Council, on measures that can be taken to promote transfer of relevant and advanced technology, particularly ESTs, and a timebound roadmap for realization of such measures;

4._    Expects that the recommendations made, and roadmap presented by the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology, shall address the challenges and barriers that developing and least-developed country Members are facing in acquisition, adaptation, and diffusion of technology and in helping them in realizing economic, developmental and trade gains through transfer of relevant and advanced technology, particularly ESTs;

5._    Encourages developed Members to provide inputs to the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology, including information pertaining to regional and sector-specific technology needs, and their own experiences, challenges, best practices relating to transfer of technology, and utilization of such technologies;

6._    Urges developed Members to put in place, without undue delay, measures to transfer relevant and advanced technology, particularly ESTs, so as to improve trade flows from the developing and least-developed country Members, and promptly report such measures and details thereof to the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology for fulfilling the other functions listed in this Declaration;

7._    Instructs the WTO Secretariat to support the work of the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology by providing analytical inputs, factual background notes, and documentation relevant to the implementation of this Declaration; and

8._    Decides to place the work of the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology under this Declaration as a standing item on the agenda of the General Council, with a view to institutionalizing this agenda, and facilitating prompt and meaningful engagement and results.

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