[A2k] IP-Watch: Pressures High On Eve Of WIPO General Assembly; DG Under Fire

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://ip-watch.org/weblog/wp-trackback.php?p=3D749


20 September 2007
Pressures High On Eve Of WIPO General Assembly; DG Under Fire



By William New
Tensions are high at the World Intellectual Property Organization
leading up to the annual General Assemblies next week with member
states discussing the fate of the WIPO director general, who developed
country member states claim has lost the ability to govern the
organisation. Other issues under debate include budget overruns and
surpluses and the UN body=92s programme for the next two years.

An effort has been made by some countries, led by the United States, to
hold a discussion at the high-level assemblies on questions around WIPO
Director General Kamil Idris=92 alleged decades-long misreporting of his
age on official documents.

On Thursday, the European Union requested a meeting with Idris to
suggest he step down, an EU government official told Intellectual
Property Watch. Last week, another developed country ambassador
informed Idris of a loss of confidence in his ability to head WIPO.

A US request was made to put an item on the draft agenda of the 24
September to 3 October annual General Assemblies to consider an
internal audit report on the age issue. On 14 September, the draft
agenda was changed to include this item (number 12).

The EU ambassadors in Geneva agreed this week that they do not support
Idris, the EU government official said. On Wednesday, the Group B
developed nations at WIPO met and the United States signalled it still
intends to pursue the agenda item, the official said. On Thursday, the
Portuguese ambassador on behalf of the EU (Portugal currently holds the
presidency) requested a meeting with Idris to urge him to consider
stepping down. The EU=92s message to Idris will suggest that his position
and the credibility of the organisation have been compromised by recent
events, the official said.

Meanwhile, at the 11-14 September Program and Budget Committee meeting,
which was extended by a day, talks took place on renewal with stronger
terms of reference of the WIPO Audit Committee and the WPO Internal
Audit Charter (under which the report was conducted), an independent
personnel review that found problems, WIPO=92s reported surplus and
overspending from the 2006-2007 biennium, the proposed 2008-2009
budget, and US and Brazilian proposals to reduce fees charged for
WIPO=92s services.

The Push to Oust Idris

During the past 24 years, Idris repeatedly signed official documents
showing his birth date to be nine years earlier than it is, and may
have moved up the ranks at WIPO based on the error, according to the
report of the independent internal investigation (IPW, WIPO, 20
February 2007). Intellectual Property Watch received a demand from WIPO
to take down the report shortly after posting it earlier this year.

Idris acted last year to change WIPO records to show he was actually
born on 26 August 1954 (IPW, WIPO, 13 July 2006). But at least 12
official UN travel and identification documents issued for, and signed
by, Idris since 1983 showed his birth date as 26 August 1945, according
a copy of the confidential report.

The report was prepared by the WIPO Internal Audit and Oversight
Division at the request of the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit in
June 2006, after press reports that Idris=92 age had been changed in the
UN system. The report was dated 29 November.

Warren Tichenor, US ambassador to the UN in Geneva, requested the
agenda item in a 24 August letter sent directly to Idris. According to
government and WIPO officials, the WIPO secretariat replied saying it
would decline to change the agenda, citing the report=92s confidential
nature. But the United States and possibly others insisted that under
WIPO rules of procedure (Article 5.4) any country may raise an item for
the draft agenda and it must then be changed to reflect the proposed
item, they said.

The WIPO secretariat was not successfully reached for official comment
on this story. But Intellectual Property Watch spoke to many officials
from WIPO and its member states for this story.

Idris also may be receiving some additional pressure from past news
reports (IPW, WIPO, 7 June 2005) and other analyses (IPW, WIPO, 21
December 2005) about possible improprieties at WIPO during his term (he
was elected in 1998), and the independent =93desk-to-desk=94 personnel
review. The review will be raised at the assemblies as well, and was
discussed at the Program and Budget Committee meeting. The renewal and
strengthening of the mandate of the WIPO Audit Committee is another
possibly related item for the assemblies. The Audit Committee was said
by one official to have been given the confidential report (which has
been closely held by WIPO as it was confidential), but this could not
be confirmed.

Opponents hope that with enough pressure Idris might quietly decide to
step down before his term ends and by doing so, avoid such a
high-profile discussion during the assemblies, according to government
sources. Some said it could be considered potentially embarrassing to
Idris and WIPO if a discussion at the ambassador level is held on the
report. But he reportedly has been holding fast.

Some developing country governments say the age issue is not
sufficiently of concern to lead to the WIPO head=92s removal, and fear an
unfair smear campaign by developed countries. Other officials point to
United Nations rules and past dispute settlement cases that show
removal of employees for similar transgressions. Idris may also face
national-level legal action for possibly falsifying applications to
authorities in obtaining visas, sources said. Opponents also suggest
that Idris would not have risen to his level in the organisation and
received the benefits had he not from the start made himself appear
more experienced and competitive.

Helping or Harming WIPO?

Developing countries are generally unenthusiastic about targeting a
leader from one of their own, especially in an organisation that
handles rights mainly owned by developed countries and that was led for
many years by a developed country official before Idris. Several
officials said there may be discussions about the vote related to
countries=92 goals or views outside of WIPO, such as the World Trade
Organization or World Bank.

Some developing country officials and advocates suggested the Idris age
issue could be an unnecessary distraction to the General Assemblies=92
more important issues, such as endorsing the Development Agenda.

=93I would prefer this matter not contaminate the work of the General
Assemblies,=94 Argentine Ambassador Alberto Dumont told Intellectual
Property Watch.

Idris has reportedly indicated privately that he does not plan to stay
on after his term expires at the end of 2009 after two six-year terms.
Member states before he was elected voted to limit directors general to
two terms, but the required majority of states have not ratified that
change for it to take effect. Those seeking to remove him have
indicated that they would not be opposed to another candidate from
Africa for the remainder of his term. But they may have hopes to
install a developed-country official as of 2009.

The environment within WIPO appears to be rather divided, with a small
number of officials in the WIPO hierarchy said to be Idris=92 closest
advisors and supporters, among them Director of Cabinet Mich=E8le
Weil-Guthmann, Comptroller Carlotta Graffigna, and Sherif Saadallah,
director of the Office of Strategic Use of Intellectual Property for
Development. Opponents appear to be largely from developed countries,
though not only.

Agenda Item Fight Looms

The assembly agenda is in draft form until the meeting when, after the
election of officers, the member states vote on it, sources said.
Discussions about the agenda among countries are continuing up to the
meeting, they said.

Developed countries such as Switzerland, Japan, Canada, Australia, and
several in the European Union apparently support the Idris agenda item,
but there are some developed countries, particularly the United
Kingdom, that did not push for this approach, perhaps because they see
the potential for more harm than good for the organisation in holding
such a high-profile discussion, sources said.

According to several government sources, the secretariat agreed on
Friday to allow the agenda item. The draft agenda was updated on 14
September with the addition of the request to discuss the report and
=93appropriate follow-up thereto.=94

But it appears that there may be a number of votes especially from
Africa to keep the Idris item off the agenda. The WIPO director general
is originally from Sudan and retains support in the region. When the
report on his age emerged, the secretariat informally suggested racial
motivation was involved.

On 5 September, WIPO held a retreat with Geneva-based ambassadors of
the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) =93for an in-depth
review of topical issues on the international intellectual property
agenda,=94 according to WIPO. =93The meeting provided a forum for
representatives of the OIC group to exchange views on matters of
particular interest to their economic, social and cultural
development,=94 it said.

Campaign Season Begins

The authority for hiring at WIPO, up to the level of director general,
rests with the member states, through the Coordination Committee, which
meets during the assemblies. For the new committee chair, the director
general=92s office has proposed Amb. Franciscos Verros, the Greek
ambassador to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva.
But it is unclear, should it become relevant, whose jurisdiction the
firing of a director general might fall.

To fill out the rest of Idris=92 term, should it arise, Nigeria is a
prospect, sources said, as might be Geoffrey Yu, who until this year
was a deputy director general and has kept his hand in WIPO activities
from his native Singapore.

It appears that potential candidates for the director general job have
been on the campaign trail at least since mid-summer. The list of names
at times seems endless as governments from every region are informally
floating top officials=92 names alongside a line-up of existing senior
WIPO officials.

Internal WIPO names include Yu, and Deputy Director General Francis
Gurry, who heads patent issues and oversaw the desk-to-desk review last
year that showed noticeable problems in the organisation. It also
seemingly includes a number of other senior WIPO officials.

A third contest causing some discussion is who will chair the General
Assemblies, elected at the start of the meeting to take over from the
Philippines. The Algerian ambassador is reportedly in contention.
Algeria has been seen as friendly to Idris.

Budgets and Fee Reductions

Meanwhile, at the PBC, the United States proposed cutting fees by 15
percent after WIPO=92s preliminary financial report for 2006-2007 showed
a surplus in the tens of millions of Swiss francs. A letter from
developed country industry groups dated 6 September was sent to Idris
and circulated at the PBC meeting offering =93strong support=94 for the 15
percent reduction. The letter was signed by BusinessEurope, the Japan
Intellectual Property Association, the Intellectual Property Owners
Association (US), and the American Intellectual Property Law
Association.

Brazil at the PBC proposed creating a plan to further cuts fees for
developing countries. Negotiations are ongoing.

Also at the PBC, governments recommended the adoption of the revised
budget for the 2006-2007 biennium (which reflected overspending) with
the exception of a proposal to create three new security posts, and
with the caveats that it not impact the 2008-2009 budget nor the
follow-up actions that may come from the desk-to-desk review.

The secretariat=92s proposed 2008-2009 budget was also recommended for
adoption with admonishment that WIPO stay within the approved budget
next time, and with a list of possible changes from decisions at the
General Assembly. These include: possible allowance for changes to
reflect the agreed proposals for a WIPO Development Agenda, possible
patent fee cuts, and the desk-to-desk review.

The committee also took note (without action) of the US proposal for a
15 percent reduction, a briefing by the WIPO Audit Committee chair, and
the proposed use of available financial reserves for medium-term
projects (such as earmarking an extra 5 million Swiss francs for the
Development Agenda, and a 15 million Swiss franc down payment on
two-year construction of a new approximately 130 million Swiss franc
WIPO office building to begin early next year.

William New may be reached at wnew@ip-watch.ch.

---------------------------------
Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
voice +41.22.791.6727
fax +41.22.723.2988
mobile +41 76 508 0997
thiru@keionline.org