[A2k] REMINDER: KEI/IQsensato briefing at WTO Ministerial: Tuesday, December 1

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Proposal for a WTO Agreement on the Supply of Knowledge as a Global
Public Good
8:30AM-10 AM
Room B, Conference Center Varemb=E9

Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) and IQsensato are holding a
briefing on a Proposal for a WTO Agreement on the Supply of Knowledge
as a Global Public Good.

The briefing will take place in Room B of the Conference Center
Varemb=E9 on 1 December 2009 (Tuesday) from 8:30 to 10:00 AM. The CCV is
located just across from the CICG where the Seventh  WTO Ministerial
will take place.

This event open to all accredited delegates (governments,
international organisations, NGOs, press) to the Seventh WTO
Ministerial Conference.


Confirmed speakers include:

James Love (Director, KEI)
Sisule Musungu (President, IQsensato)

Respondents:

Ahmad Mukthar (Commercial Secretary, Permanent Mission of Pakistan to
the WTO)

Antony Taubman (Director, Intellectual Property Division, World Trade
Organization)

Context

While the world is confronted with a vast undersupply of global public
goods, we believe that part of the problem is that the current trade
system lacks the sufficient incentives and structures to address the
free riding problems associated with the supply of public goods. There
are increasing calls for a larger supply of public goods and a variety
of proposals that involve government  commitments to increase the
supply of global public goods in specific areas, including but not
limited to major projects such as the Kyoto Protocol to the
International Framework Convention on   Climate Change, the
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources, the proposed WIPO
Treaty on Access to Knowledge, and the proposed WHO Biomedical R&D
Treaty.

KEI and IQSensato are planning to examine the complex issues which
surround a new proposal to introduce at WTO an Agreement on the Supply
of Knowledge as a Global Public Good. The goal is to create a new
option that will allow governments to make binding offers and
commitments for the supply of heterogeneous global public goods,
involving in particular knowledge goods.

------------------------------------------------------------


Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
thiru@keionline.org


Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Mobile: +41 76 508 0997