India urges WTO ministerial for time-bound tech-transfer roadmap to aid developing nations

Key facts

• India submitted a draft ministerial declaration asking developed members to facilitate transfer of advanced environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) to developing and least-developed countries (LDCs).
• The declaration cites export controls on inputs such as semiconductor chips and rare earth minerals and rigid intellectual-property regimes as persistent barriers to technology access.
• India requested developed countries to share regional and sector-specific technology needs, experiences, challenges and best practices to cut high access costs and domestic capacity constraints.
• New Delhi proposed a detailed review of technology-transfer provisions in WTO agreements covering TRIPS, agriculture, technical barriers to trade, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
• The text seeks operationalisation of existing TRIPS flexibilities for technology transfer and a time-bound roadmap to be adopted at the forthcoming WTO ministerial meeting later this month.