. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/132/Add.4/Suppl.2
23 February 2000
(00-0668)
Council on Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  French
IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE  66.2:  INFORMATION FROM
DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS
Supplement
BELGIUM
This document contains information on the implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS
Agreement by Belgium.
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Following interdepartmental consultations among the various federal and regional bodies that
could possibly provide relevant information in this area, various items of information under
Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement are provided below.
Belgium, whose economy is largely based on intern ational trade, is particularly interested in
development cooperation in favour of the developing countries and the least-developed countries to
enable them to become true partner countries with  the ability to manage their social and economic
development efficiently.  The transfer of techno logies and know-how forms a natural part of this
effort.
Official Development Assistance (ODA) includes all contributions by any Belgian
governmental bodies to international cooperation.  Expenditures recorded as ODA come not only
from the Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGCI) set up within the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, but from other sources as well, such as
the Ministry of Finance, the Office National du Ducroire  (National Guarantee Bureau) and the
Belgian contribution to European cooperation. They also include development assistance expendituresby the federated entities, i.e. the Regions or Communities, and by the subordinate authorities (the
provinces and communes).
In 1998, Belgium spent 31,309 billion francs on international cooperation, of which a
significant share went to the LDCs.  This represents approximately 0.36 per cent of the country's grossnational product (GNP), and surpasses the 1977 OECD average of 0.22 per cent.  The DGCI
(successor to the Administration Générale de la Cooperation au Développement ) is responsible for
close to two thirds of Belgium's total ODA expenditure.  The DGCI's responsibilities in the direct
bilateral cooperation area include the preparation of general policy, the drafting of strategy papers for
the sectors and subject areas in which future involvement is planned, the coordination of the variousinstruments, and information, awareness and edu cation campaigns in the area of international
cooperation.  A law dated 11 March 1999 defines Belgium's international cooperation objectives and
the criteria for assessing the relevance of new activities.  It also sets forth the priority sectors and the
subject areas in which direct cooperation is to take place.  Five sectors have been designated:
healthcare (with a particular focus on family planning), education and training, agriculture and foodIP/C/W/132/Add.4/Suppl.2
Page 2
safety, basic infrastructure and the building of society.  The three subject areas covering these sectors
are:  equality between men and women, environment, and finally, social economy.
The implementation of the development activities, the monitoring of their progress and their
evaluation is the responsibility of the Cooperation Technique Belge  (Belgian Technical
Cooperation) (CTB), a new and specialized institution established by a law of 28 December 1998 with
the legal status of a limited liability company under public law, having a social character and in which
the Belgian State is the only shareholder.  The CTB is also responsible for financial cooperation
(including debt relief), bilateral study courses, the support programme for small and medium
enterprises, etc.
The Office National du Ducroire  also has a role to play in building up international
cooperation:  its main mission is to foster international economic relations.  Its contribution consists in
a credit insurance issued subject to the payment of a fee in proportion to the risks involved, i.e.
essentially political and commercial risks, force majeure , or default by a debtor or partner.  This
insurance can clearly constitute an incentive for technology transfer in that it provides a certain
amount of security for commercial operations abroad, in particular when it covers the non-payment ofroyalties due for the transfer of a licence or know-how or when it covers the risk of
nationalization/confiscation of investments involving technology transfer.
The Belgian Foreign Trade Office (OBCE) is in charge of promoting the export of industrial
goods, technology and services from Belgium and Luxembourg.  It is responsible for disseminatingeconomic and commercial information, organizing promotion campaigns abroad (seminars, official
thematic and sectoral missions, etc.) in cooperation with the Regions, and for coordinating the
promotion of trade with the federal, regional and private-sector bodies.
The federated entities have also set up mechanisms to encourage and stimulate exports of
goods and services manufactured or offered by enterprises in their territory.  These services are:
- For the Brussels-Capital region:  Bruxelles Technopole  – Brussel Technopool;
- for the Walloon region:  l'Agence Wallonne à l'Exportation;- for the Flemish Community:  Export Vlaanderen.These bodies seek out and identify trading partners for enterprises, provide assistance in
preparing technological analyses and in negotiating in the framework of the technology transfer
process, organize or participate in transnational technology rights banks, and identify the technology
transfer needs of enterprises both from the point of view of promotion (technology offer) andacquisition (technology demand).  There are also possibilities for financing industrial cooperation
projects or the creation of agencies abroad, including, where appropriate, technology transfer.  These
activities are conducted at the national and international levels.  The various instruments and options
offered in this framework are available not only to  member States of the European Union, but also to
the non-European countries, inter alia  the least developed countries.
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