TWN Info Service on Intellectual Property Issues (Oct10/01)
4 October 2010
Third World Network

Please find below a news report on the WIPO General Assemblies that began on
20th September.

Regards
Sangeeta Shashikant
Third World Network

WIPO: Assemblies hear calls for more Member-State oversight
 
Geneva, 22 Sep (Sangeeta Shashikant and Heba Wanis) -- The Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) heard calls from a group of like-minded developing countries for "effective governance and oversight by Member States in a transparent and credible fashion" in order to improve the effectiveness of the organization, by building confidence and trust between the Secretariat and Member States, as well as among the Member States themselves.

The call was made by Egypt, on behalf of the Development Agenda Group (DAG), in its opening statement at the WIPO Assemblies on Tuesday.

The forty-eighth series of meetings of the WIPO Assemblies is currently taking place from 20-29 September. This year's theme is "Innovation, Growth and Development: the Role of IP and Member States' Experiences".

The Assemblies got underway on Monday with an opening address by Francis Gurry, the WIPO Director-General, followed by a high-level segment and opening statements by regional groupings, as well as individual Member States.

In his opening address, Gurry highlighted his view with regard to WIPO's priorities. He stressed on WIPO's role in developing and coordinating a global infrastructure. He added that "In the past, much of the emphasis of international cooperation in WIPO was on the legal framework. No one would suggest that that area is less important today. But the technical framework is an increasingly fertile, if not necessary, additional dimension for effective international cooperation".

Stevie Wonder, a world-famous singer and songwriter and the UN Messenger for Peace, addressed the high-level segment and called on the international community to enhance accessibility by visually-impaired persons to copyright-protected works. He also launched his "Declaration of freedom for people with disabilities", which he said, was "a call to action, a plan to empower the independence of people with disabilities by providing them with the tools to learn and grow."

The award-winning musician also told delegates: "we must declare a state of emergency, and end the information deprivation that continues to keep the visually impaired in the dark", adding that "we must develop a protocol that allows the easy import and export of copyright materials so that people with print disabilities can join the mainstream of the literate world".

[The Member States of WIPO are currently discussing the question of better access to copyright-protected works for the blind, visually impaired (VIP) and other reading-disabled persons in its Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR).]

The high-level segment also heard statements by Member States and regional groupings, who presented their views on WIPO's activities and priorities, their expectations, as well as preliminary positions on issues that will be discussed at the Assemblies.

Egypt, on behalf of the DAG, was particularly explicit about the need for more Member-State oversight and involvement in designing WIPO's activities and priorities.

Egypt pointed to the need for WIPO Member States to provide direction to the International Bureau on how to allocate resources for legal and technical assistance and capacity-building (TACB) activities in the most cost-effective and timely manner, since TACB is a core element of WIPO's role of ensuring that all Member States can benefit from a balanced intellectual property regime that is consistent with self-identified national priorities and needs, and coherent with broader development goals.

Egypt noted that a review of TACB activities is expected as part of the implementation of the Development Agenda and that it looked forward to the conclusions and recommendations of such a review, once completed. It added that increasing the engagement of Member States in the planning and oversight of WIPO's TACB activities is in line with the values of the Strategic Realignment Programme.

There is also a need to ensure coherence and transparency of TACB activities provided by the multitude of sectors within the WIPO Secretariat, Egypt said. Furthermore, while WIPO's TACB activities are broadly described in the biennial Programme and Budget documents, there is no systematic reporting of TACB activities undertaken, nor are Member States involved in regular TACB planning and review - a situation that should be examined, Egypt added.

Egypt expressed the DAG's belief that "effective governance and oversight by Member States in a transparent and credible fashion would contribute significantly to improving the effectiveness of WIPO, by building confidence and trust between the Secretariat and Member States, as also among Member States themselves".

Egypt added that the inability of Member States to exercise effectively their oversight functions owing primarily to an overloaded agenda and paucity of time in the Programme and Budget Committee (PBC) and the Coordination Committee therefore needs to be urgently addressed.

Egypt also called for urgently putting in place an institutional mechanism for the election and rotation of the bureaus of the various WIPO bodies, underlining the Member-driven and UN-character of the Organization. To this end, it welcomed the proposals from regional groups and Member States and looked forward to engaging constructively towards achieving an agreed mechanism at an early date. It also requested the Chairman of the General Assembly to mandate the convening of consultations among Member States and to facilitate the same.

Another key factor in enhancing trust among Member States and making the Organization more effective is the presence of well-functioning Member States-driven oversight and evaluation mechanisms, Egypt said. In this context, Egypt expressed its appreciation to the Secretariat for its efforts to streamline self-assessment and bring about results-based management through the Programme Performance Reports and initiatives such as the Validation Report by the Internal Audit and Oversight Division (IAOD). It hoped that the IAOD is further strengthened in terms of staffing and resources to enable it to play its due role in the triangular evaluation mechanism in WIPO.

Egypt welcomed the Director-General's initiative in presenting a Medium Term Strategic Plan (MTSP) for WIPO, to guide its work in the next five years. It however said that while Member States are due to take note of the document, the DAG continues to have reservations on certain elements of the MTSP in particular, in the areas of norm-setting and WIPO's proposed role in global challenges.

In particular, "we believe that WIPO's role and engagement in ongoing negotiations in other forums on global challenges such as climate change, health, food security etc. should be guided by the inter-governmental mandate provided by Member States," Egypt said. "Since these issues have not been discussed so far by Member States in WIPO, it would be premature for WIPO to define a role for itself in these debates through the MTSP or to propagate a certain viewpoint on IP issues", it added.

Egypt further recalled that the Director-General, in his foreword to the MTSP, said that the original purpose for which the MTSP was proposed as a "new mechanism" in 2006 was to increase the involvement of Member States in the preparation and follow-up to the Programme and Budget. It expressed hope that in the period ahead, Member States can arrive at an inter-governmentally-agreed document that can truly serve as an effective guide and compass for WIPO's work in the medium term.

In the area of norm-setting, Egypt expressed satisfaction that after many years of discussion in the Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), negotiations were underway to finalize instruments for effective international protection of Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Genetic Resources. It added that "momentum and political will are necessary for the IGC to fulfill its mandate and present a comprehensive negotiated text to the WIPO General Assemblies next year".

On WIPO's copyright work, Egypt said that discussions on exceptions and limitations are a very positive development, since they contribute to bringing about the much-needed balance between private IP rights and public use in the context of national public policies and development goals. It expressed hope that these discussions will lead to a suitable normative framework in the area of exceptions and limitations to IP rights, in pursuit of the balance between rights and obligations.

Some developing countries also underlined their concerns with regard to current IP trends (in particular, initiatives on IP rule-making outside of WIPO) and the need for a culture change in WIPO.

Ambassador Roberto Azevedo of Brazil stressed legitimacy, "expertise" and a culture of inclusion as pre-requisites for ensuring the effectiveness of any new international rule, adding that without these elements, the norms will not be applicable to, nor enforced in relevant economic spaces that today constitute the dynamic centre of the world economy. In this context, Ambassador Azevedo highlighted that all Member States should strive to maintain WIPO at the centre of intellectual property "rule making".

He also said that the Development Agenda (DA) has added a new dimension to this Organization that calls for empirical learning methods and flexible implementation methodologies, in addition to budgetary resources commensurate with its importance. The DA demands furthermore a change in WIPO's organizational culture, a change that must also be extended to the atmosphere in which intergovernmental negotiating processes take place, he added.

It is necessary to leave behind defensive postures that are associated with mutual mistrust, Ambassador Azevedo further said, adding that the DA is meant to fill an important void in the system of intellectual property, and bring to it a higher balance. He also said that WIPO's role is not limited to that of a provider of services, adding that as an agency of the UN system, WIPO must comply with the wider goals of the United Nations, in particular, the promotion of development and of the Millennium Development Goals.

Ambassador Azevedo emphasized that changes of such magnitude and depth require time and willingness to take root. He added that a lot remains to be done. Yet, some developments that have taken place over the past 12 months may be taken as an indication that we are on the right track.

India spoke on various concerns in relation to IP in the global context. It pointed to the fact that the issue of technology transfer has not been addressed adequately. It expressed grave concern with regard to the non-transparent nature of the negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement (ACTA). It added that inclusion of IP in Free Trade Agreements

(FTA) and bilateral agreements distort the balance of the IP system. These developments undermine the multilateral system. There is a need to build capacity on the use of flexibilities, it said, further calling on WIPO to publish a book on flexibilities available in the IP system.

Pakistan said that the IP system should evolve in a way where it helps the developing and least developed countries, rather than impede their progress and make them perpetually dependent upon the developed world. It also said that an ideal IP system is one that promotes innovation and access to knowledge at the same time.

It added that for WIPO to remain relevant on the IP landscape and to regain the ground lost due to "forum shopping", it will have to take the right steps in the right direction and at the right time. For WIPO to become the forum of first choice on IP issues, "we will have to ensure that IP provides equal opportunities for all and safeguards the interests of all", it said. +