[A2k] Friends of Development proposal: Decision of the PCDA on the establishment of a WIPO Development Agenda

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

23 June 2006

Today, the Friends of Development group formally submitted the following
proposal to WIPO for consideration at next week's Development Agenda
meeting in Geneva.

Thiru


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Proposal by Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Cuba, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Kenya, Peru, Sierra Leona, South Africa, Tanzania,
Uruguay and Venezuela



Decision of the PCDA on the establishment of a WIPO Development Agenda.


The PCDA recommends to the General Assembly of WIPO,

1. To initiate a process for the adoption of a high-level declaration on
intellectual property and development;

2. To reaffirm the commitment of WIPO Member States with the principles
and goals of the UN system =96 mainly economic and social development =96,
and with the mandate of WIPO as a UN-specialized agency by adopting the
following declaration: =93Nothing in the 1967 WIPO Convention prevents
WIPO from undertaking any initiative to consider various models of
innovation other than intellectual property. Attempts to pursue upward
harmonization of laws on IP protection, without proper consideration of
the potential social and economic costs for developing countries and
LDCs, runs contrary to WIPO=B4s UN mandate=94.

3. To adopt the following principles on Technical Assistance:
a) The provision of technical assistance should be development oriented;

b) The technical assistance programmes and activities should be mutual
supportive and coherent with relevant international instruments and
national development policies;

c) Technical assistance programmes and activities should adopt an
integrated approach, expanding its coverage to include matters related
to competition policy and related regulatory regimes;

d) The provision of technical assistance should be neutral, of advisory
nature and non-discriminatory among recipients or issues to be addressed;

e) The technical assistance programmes and activities should ensure that
IP laws and regulations are tailored -made and demand-driven;

f) WIPO=B4s technical assistance staff and consultants should be fully
independent;

g) WIPO=B4s technical assistance programmes and activities should be
continually evaluated independently and internally to ensure its
effectiveness; h) Transparency in all aspects of technical assistance
should be ensured;

4. To set up guidelines and disciplines, based on those principles, to
ensure, inter alia:

(a) transparency, including by means of making readily and publicly
available all information about design, delivery, cost, financing and
implementation of technical assistance programs;

(b) the development of the technical capacity of countries to fully use
in-built flexibilities existing in the intellectual property
international system to advance national pro-development policies and,
in particular, the pro-development provisions of the TRIPs Agreement,
and the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health;

(c) that the relationship between intellectual property and competition
law are fully explored to ensure an integrated approach;

(d) strengthening of national capacity for the protection of local
creations, innovations and inventions in order to develop national
scientific and technological infrastructure;

(e) independency and transparency in cooperation programs;

(f) that the social costs of intellectual property protection and
enforcement are maintained at a minimum in developing countries;

(g) the implementation of international obligations in an
administratively sustainable way, that does not overburden scarce
national resources;

(h) independence of providers;

(i) continuous evaluation to ensure its effectiveness.

5. To agree on the promotion of model approaches, overseen by Member
states, on how to implement the relevant provisions on anti-competitive
practices, and flexibilities and limitations of the TRIPS and WIPO=92s
agreements;

6. To set up financial mechanisms aimed at promoting
development-friendly technical assistance to developing and least
developed countries (LDCs), particularly in Africa;

7. To adopt the following principles, guidelines and correlative treaty
provisions to ensure that WIPO norm-setting activities:

(a) are based on Member- driven and transparent work plan and strategic
vision;

(b) take into account the differences in the level of economic, social
and technological development among Members and do not promote
harmonization initiatives detrimental to developing and least-developed
countries;

(c) preserve and protect a robust and lively public domain, while
safeguarding exceptions and limitations;

(d) reflect not only the interests of developed countries and IP rights
holders, but also those of developing countries, the public stakeholders
and civil society;

(e) are fully compatible with and actively support other international
instruments that reflect and advance development objectives, in
particular Human Rights international instruments;

(f) provide developing countries with policy space commensurate to their
development needs and requirements through flexibilities, exceptions,
limitations and the provision of protection adequate to the level of
development and national conditions of each country;

(g) are preceded and effectively guided by debates and public hearings,
with open participation by all member-countries and all stakeholders,
with a view to assessing potential impacts as well as the desirability
of new norm-setting activities;

(h) put in place a system, overseen by member-countries, to ensure
continuous objective evaluation of the impact and costs, especially for
developing countries, of higher standards of IPR protection;

(i) provide mechanisms designed to curb anticompetitive IP-related
practices.

8. To agree on the inclusion in treaties and norms provisions on, inter
alia:

(a) objectives and principles;

(b) safeguard of national implementation of intellectual property rules;

(c) against anti-competitive practices and abuse of monopoly rights;

(d) promotion of transfer of technology;

(e) longer compliance periods for developing countries;

(f) flexibilities and =93policy space=94 for the pursuit of public policies=
;

(g) exceptions and limitations.

9. To set up, within WIPO, a mechanism to carry out, on a Member-driven
basis, independent and evidence-based =93Development Impact Assessments=94
with respect to norm-setting and technical assistance activities,
including by means of compilation of empirical evidence, analysis of
cost-benefit of norms and the examination of alternatives within and
outside the IP system. These endeavors should precede and guide any
norm-setting activity within WIPO and should ensure a continuous
evaluation of the actual impact and costs of treaties and norms that
have been adopted, so that the objectives pursued by means of new
treaties or the revision of existing ones can be achieved always under
the lowest possible levels of monopoly of knowledge. In the case of
technical assistance and capacity building indicators and benchmarks for
evaluation should be established.

10. To separate the norm-setting functions of the WIPO Secretariat from
those of technical assistance;

11. To agree on the promotion and development of alternative innovation-
protection models and open collaboratively projects such as Free and
Open Source Software and Creative Commons;

12. To agree to launch negotiations on a Treaty on Access to Knowledge
and Technology;

13. To initiate negotiations on a multilateral agreement where
signatories would place into the public domain, or find other means of
sharing at affordable cost, the results of publicly funded research;

14. To develop, adopt and promote development-friendly principles,
guidelines and disciplines on transfer of technology that, inter alia:

(a) enable a dynamic technological cooperation between developed and
developing countries;

(b) enable developing countries to have access to technologies from
developed countries;

(c) mainstream transfer of technology in WIPO=92s norm-setting activities;

(d) set up multilateral supportive measures for the promotion and
dissemination of technology.

15. To establish a new body, within WIPO, for promoting transfer of
technology;

16. To formulate recommendations on policies and measures industrialized
countries could adopt for promoting transfer and dissemination of
technology to developing countries;

17. To devise a mechanism whereby countries affected by anti-competitive
practices request developed countries authorities to undertake
enforcement actions against firms headquartered or located in their
jurisdictions and to promote measures to effectively curb and combat
IP-related anti-competitive practices, and abuse of misuse of rights by
rights holders;

18. To ensure wider participation of public interest groups in WIPO
discussions, adopting UN criteria regarding NGO=92s terminology,
acceptance and accreditation;

19. To maintain the mandate of WIPO=92s Advisory Committee on Enforcement
within the limits of a forum for exchange of information on national
experience, excluding norm-setting activities. The ACE agenda of
discussion should also tackle how best to ensure the implementation of
those provisions in existing IP treaties, including TRIPS, that provide
for exceptions and limitations to the rights conferred;

20. To renew the process of the PCDA to further discuss and effectively
address all issues related to a Development Agenda work-program for WIPO
that may not have been the subject of decision during the 2006
General-Assembly. In this regard three meetings will be organized until
July 2007, which shall report back and formulate recommendations to the
2007 General Assembly on necessary and appropriate actions to be taken
with regard to the pending proposals;

21. To take fully into account the interests of developing countries
Members in the process of elaboration and approval of the program and
budget of the Organization and to implement the decision of the 41st
General Assembly of WIPO: =93(=85) adjustments to the Program and Budget fo=
r
2006-2007 shall be carried out in order to take into account any
programmatic and budgetary implications resulting from on-going
discussions on the WIPO Development Agenda and other issues=94.