[WSIS CS-Plenary] [StopWTORound] IP-Watch: WIPO Development Agenda Talks Move Ahead

[Carolyn Deere]

A new entry titled 'WIPO Development Agenda Talks Move Ahead' has been
posted to Intellectual Property Watch weblog.

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index_test.php?p=43

WIPO Development Agenda Talks Move Ahead

by William New @ 11:56 pm, 13/4/05 

World Intellectual Property Organisation members late Wednesday night
agreed to continue discussing a proposal to more deeply infuse
developing country needs into the mission of the U.N. body. 

After three full days of closed-door meetings - much of them in private
meetings of smaller groups - members reached a carefully crafted
compromise: to hold two more meetings, one in June and one in July. This
was significant as some members view the push for a development agenda
at WIPO as unnecessary arguing that the organisation has long addressed
development issues. 

The subject of this week's inter-sessional intergovernmental meeting
(IIM) in Geneva was a proposal for a WIPO Development Agenda made at
last fall's WIPO General Assembly by Argentina and Brazil. The proposal
was co-sponsored by 12 other countries (collectively called the Friends
of Development). The IIM was tasked by the General Assembly with
providing a report by the end of July. 

Prior to the meeting, three other proposals emerged, from the United
States, United Kingdom and Mexico, along with an expanded version of the
Friends of Development proposal. Government and non-governmental
representatives spent most of the time on the floor presenting their
views on the proposals. 

But the actual negotiating during the meetings was largely over how to
proceed. Differences emerged early as developed countries sought to
characterize the development issue as one of technical assistance. The
developed countries proposed to move the discussion to an existing
committee on technical cooperation, and to limit the IIMs to one more
meeting. 

Many developing countries advocated a framework that extends beyond
technical cooperation. They argued that a stronger development
perspective demands changes to WIPO's governance, its approach to new
negotiations, a stronger focus on technology transfer, and improvements
to technical assistance. They insisted that these issues warrant
attention across WIPO's committees and activities. 

The final agreement is to hold a three-day meeting from 20 to 22 June,
and a three-day meeting in July. Member states were asked to contribute
additional proposals to the secretariat as soon as possible. Existing
proposals are to be resubmitted in the form of action plans. 

A draft report of the first IIM will be posted to the WIPO website by 25
April, with comments on it due by 4 May. The revised draft report will
be posted on 11 May. 

Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota, the lead Brazilian delegate, said
afterward that he hoped the two upcoming meetings would focus on the
substance of the proposals, with an eye toward the establishment of a
work plan on the Development Agenda at next fall's General Assembly. 

Some non-governmental groups were relatively upbeat about the outcome of
the first meeting.
"This is a process that has momentum and the commitment of a large
number of countries in a way unlike certain other processes at WIPO
which are not enthusiastically participated in," said Nick Ashton-Hart,
a non-governmental representative and former executive director of the
International Music Managers Forum. 

For instance, the broadcasting treaty talks had fewer participants, and
18 proposals over seven years, he said. By contrast, WIPO reported that
this week's meeting involved 99 member countries, 16 inter-governmental
organisations and 41 non-governmental organisations. 

The fight over meeting schedules had significant consequences for the
Development Agenda. "Without meeting time, processes are dead,"
Ashton-Hart said. "That's why when something gets started that they
wanted, countries fight so hard to keep them going. It's an indication
of how much they care about this." 

In another development, the members agreed at the last minute to a
change that would appear to allow seventeen non-accredited
non-governmental organisations admitted Monday morning to this week's
meeting on an ad hoc basis to attend the remaining IIMs. 


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William New, the author of this post, may be reached at
wnew at ip-watch.org. 

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