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http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=40&res=1024_ff&print=0
6/4/2005
WIPO Development Agenda, Developing Countries Submit New
Proposals

by Carolyn Deere @ 7:15 pm

On the eve of high-level meetings next week on development and
intellectual property, the fourteen co-sponsors of the proposal
for the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s new
Development Agenda today submitted detailed elaborations of their
proposals for incorporating development into WIPO’s work.

The fourteen so-called Friends of Development asked the WIPO
Secretariat to distribute the proposal to all WIPO Member States
for consideration at two meetings to be held next week: an April
11-13 Inter-sessional Intergovernmental Meeting on the
Development Agenda (IIM) and an April 14-15 Permanent Committee
on Cooperation for Development Related to Intellectual Property
(PCIPD).

In a press release issued today, WIPO highlighted that the
meetings next week follow the decision adopted by Member States
in the 2004 General Assembly debate "to convene inter-sessional
intergovernmental meetings to examine the proposals contained" in
the original Development Agenda proposal introduced last fall by
Argentina and Brazil (and co-sponsored by an additional twelve
developing countries), "as well as additional proposals of member
states."

Under the rubric of "promoting development and access to
knowledge for all", the co-sponsors offered concrete
recommendations on four aspects of their original Development
Agenda proposal.

First, the co-sponsors argued that reform of WIPO’s governance
structure is a necessary prerequisite for promoting development
in its work. They proposed amending the WIPO Convention to make
it more consistent with WIPO’s mandate as a UN specialised
agency, strengthening the role of Member States in guiding WIPO’s
work, establishing an independent Evaluation and Research Office,
and ensuring wider participation by civil society and public
interest groups in WIPO discussions and activities.

Second, the Friends of Development proposed principles to ensure
that development objectives are central to all processes and
outcomes of WIPO norm-setting activities, including greater
Member State involvement in devising WIPO’s work plan,
comprehensive assessment of the sustainable development
implications of any proposed new laws; deeper consideration of
the rights and interests of a broad range of stakeholders with
respect to intellectual property; and stronger efforts to ensure
that proposed standards support the objectives and provisions of
other international instruments (such as the Millennium
Development Goals).

To ensure these guidelines have practical effect, the co-sponsors
recommended independent, evidence-based "Development Impact
Assessment" (DIA), the incorporation of provisions to recognise
the difference between developed and developing WIPO Member
States, and greater public consultation prior to any norm-setting
discussion in WIPO.

Third, the submission proposed mechanisms to ensure WIPO’s
technical assistance and capacity building responds to the
development goals of developing countries. The co-sponsors argued
for the adoption by the 2005 WIPO General Assembly of a
commitment to technical assistance programmes that are:
development-focused, comprehensive and coherent; neutral,
unbiased, non-discriminatory; tailor-made to respond to the
expressed and distinct needs of a range of stakeholders. They
argued that special attention should be paid to the different
levels of development of various countries and fostering "the
technical capacity of countries to fully use in-built
flexibilities in international agreements to advance national
pro-development policies."

In order to make "good use of the limited resources allocated to
intellectual property technical assistance in WIPO", the Friends
of Development recommended concrete measures to implement and
monitor adherence to these guidelines, such as measures for
improved information-sharing, a code of ethics to assure the
independence of technical assistance providers, the development
of indicators and benchmarks for evaluation, and greater
transparency about the design and implementation of technical
assistance programmes. The proposal also called for analysis of
options for separating WIPO’s technical assistance function from
its norm-setting function.

Fourth, the submission argued that WIPO should contribute to
international discussion of what developed countries can do to
facilitate the transfer and dissemination of technology to
developing countries and recommended several new initiatives at
the multilateral level.

In their submission, the Friends of Development emphasised their
view that "the development dimension of intellectual property is
not the same thing as technical assistance." They affirmed that
they attach importance "to the role of intellectual property in
the path towards development" and stressed their belief that
"WIPO could have a new role…if it incorporates the development
dimension into its work".

The proposal also responded to the question of where best to
locate the Development Agenda discussion in the long-term. The
co-sponsors stated that the Development Agenda "cannot be limited
to or contained within the work of any specific subsidiary body
within WIPO" but must be pursued "in all areas of WIPO’s
activities, including in the work of all standing committees and
other subsidiary bodies".

Finally, indicating that more is still to come, the Friends of
Development noted that their proposal is not exhaustive and they
"reserve the right to make additional contributions to the debate
as discussions continue".

Sisule Musungu of the South Centre, a key developing country
inter-governmental think-tank, today applauded developing
countries for their collaborative effort to give practical effect
to the Development Agenda and to bolster the work of WIPO.
Proactive proposals from developing countries, he argued, help
WIPO realise its long-stated goal of making its approach to IP
relevant and supportive of development. In addition, he said that
the "issues raised in the proposals cover not only the concerns
of developing countries but also the interests of key
constituencies (such as consumers) in the North."

A developing country official highlighted that the new submission
should put to rest claims by some developed countries that they
"do not understand" the original Development Agenda proposal. The
Development Agenda discussion, he said, brings WIPO up-to-date
with other international organizations—from the World Bank to the
WTO—which have undertaken similarly useful processes of
introspection to ensure their actions achieve
development-oriented results.

The WIPO Secretariat noted today that it had also received
submissions from Mexico (on Intellectual Property and
Development) and the United States of America (on the
Establishment of a Partnership Program in WIPO) related to next
week’s discussions.

Sources in Geneva predict strong reactions and a lively debate
among the Secretariat, WIPO Member States, and other stakeholders
on these proposals in the coming days.

The Friends of Development Group comprises the co-sponsors of the
original proposal to establish a WIPO "Development Agenda"
(Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
Egypt, Iran, Kenya, Peru, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania
and Venezuela).

The WIPO Secretariat also drew attention today to an
International Seminar on Intellectual Property and Development to
be held on May 2 and 3, 2005 (co-organized by WIPO with the
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),
World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO) and World Trade Organization
(WTO)). According to the Secretariat, this event is open to all
interested parties, including the press.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. All of
the news articles and features on Intellectual Property Watch are
also subject to a Creative Commons License which makes them
available for widescale, free, non-commercial reproduction and
translation. Carolyn Deere, the author of this post, may be
reached at carolyn AT ip-watch.org.

- --
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress AT cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

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