[Ecommerce] News from WIPO and development agenda

[Manon Ress]

News from WIPO GA.  Sept 30, 2004

Co-Sponsors of the Proposal for a Development Agenda, Group B, the EU
have all asked for the floor and addressed the proposal.  It's the end
of the day in Geneva and the Chair asked (in the interest of time) if
there could be a draft decision.

A one page draft was ready and tabled by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil,
Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Sierra Leone, Iran, Tanzania, South
Africa and Venezuela.

I do not have the exact draft but the delegates are working on something
like this:

"Recalling that the relationship between development and intellectual
property has continuously been raised in several multilateral fora;

Bearing in mind the UN Millenium Development goals, the program of
action for Least Developed Countries for decades 2001 and 2010, the
Monterey Consensus, The Johannesburg Declaration on sustainable
development, the Decalaration of Principles and the Plan of Action of
the first phase of the World Summit on Information Society and the Sao
Paolo consensus adopted at UNCTAD XI;

1. The General Assembly welcomes the proposal to establish a development
agenda for WIPO
2. The General Assembly decides to establish an ad hoc intersessional
working group on the integration of the development dimensions in WIPO
open to the participation of all member states, to consider and prepare
recommendations for the next General Assembly.  Recommendations should
address measures and actions proposed by member states includind
decisions proposed in Document WO/ga/31/11.
The working group will hold a toal of three meetings and shall prepare a
report with the recommendations which should be ready by 30 July 2005,
additional meetings of the group may also be held before the above
mentioned deadline if the member states deem it to be necessary.
WIPO accreditated NGOs are invited to participate as observer in the
working group.
3. the General Assembly decides to convene a special international
conferecne on intellectual property and development to adopt inter alia,
a high level political declaration.  The international bureau shall
undertake immediate organisational arrangements in consultation with
member states to set up an adequate preparatory process for the Conference.
4. The international bureau shall undertake immediate arrangments in
order to organize with other relevant UN organizations including UNCTAD,
WHO and UNIDO, a joint international Seminar on intellectual property
abd development, open to the participation of all interested
stakeholders including public interest NGOs, civil society and Academia.
5. Finally, the General Assembly decides to include this issue in the
agenda of the next General Assembly which shall address the
recommendations of the "ad hoc" intersessional working group.




--
Manon Anne Ress
Consumer Project on Technology
www.cptech.org
PO Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
manon.ress@cptech.org, voice: 1.202.387.8030, fax: 1.202.234.5176