[Ip-health] FromGeneva: WIPO General Assembly-Impressions from Day One

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://fromgeneva.blogspot.com/2006/09/wipo-general-assembly-impressions-from.html


    Monday, September 25, 2006


      WIPO General Assembly-Impressions from Day One

FromGeneva
25 September 2006
Thiru Balasubramaniam

The WIPO General Assembly, the highest decision-making body of WIPO,
runs from 25 September to 3 October 2006. Ambassador Enrique Manalo of
the Philippines was elected chair of the General Assembly. The three
agenda items expected to be of most substantial interest include: 1) the
Development Agenda
<http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=66993>, 2)
Protection of Broadcasting Organizations
<http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=66992> and 3)
the Report on the Progress of the Standing Committee on the Law of
Patents in Respect of the Draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty
<http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=11023> and
Consideration of a New Work Plan for 2007.

The first day consisted of general statements from regional groups
including the Asian Group, Group B (developed countries) and the African
Group in addition to individual statements from Member States. From the
onset, the Chair employed a strict but judicious time limit for oral
interventions with 7 to 8 minutes given to regional coordinators and 5
minutes granted to individual Member States.

Switzerland, on behalf of Group B (developed countries) noted its
disappointment that discussions that on the patent agenda and the
development agenda were not resolved in their respective technical
committees. With respect to the development agenda, Switzerland stressed
its concern that the recommendations by the Chair of the PCDA
(Ambassador Rigoberto Gauto Vielman of Paraguay) were supported by an
overwhelming number of countries as a workable compromise and a way
forward for discussion.

What the Swiss delegate did not mention however, was that the PCDA's
recommendations were summarily rejected by the Friends of Development
and did not have the status of "Chair's recommendations" but instead
miraculously appeared as the proposal from the Kyrgyz Republic.

Nigeria, on behalf of the African Group, called upon the General
Assembly to "renew the mandate" of the Provisional Committee on
Proposals Related to a WIPO Development Agenda (PCDA) "in order to
continue with its work soon after the Assemblies". The African Group
called for the PCDA to hold three 5 day sessions in 2007 "devoted to
discussion of substantive issues to produce a balanced set of
recommendations composed of both technical assistance and substantive
issues such as norm setting".

With respect to the "protection of signals for broadcasting
organizations", the African Group stressed that "web casting and
simulcasting should not feature" in the proposed treaty. The African
Group noted that the treaty "should adequately protect the public
interest by the inclusion of safeguards and exceptions and limitations".

Singapore, on behalf of the ASEAN group, stated that intellectual
property was not an end in itself, but rather a means of promoting
economic, social and cultural development.

Finland, on behalf of the European Communities and its Member States,
expressed its support for a decision calling for the convening of a
Diplomatic Conference for a treaty on the protection of broadcasting
organizations.

Minister Gilberto Gil (Ministry of Culture, Brazil) stated the following



    We are living a historical moment when, more than ever, intellectual
    property deserves to be the object of a debate that corresponds to
    the breadth and complexity that this subject has acquired. We have
    seen that a number of sectors of the international community has
    become increasingly aware of the importance of discussing
    intellectual property in all its aspects, particularly its effects
    on social and economic development, as illustrated by the Doha
    Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health.

    It is clear to us that development will only be ensured if there is
    a balance between intellectual property rights and obligations and
    the public interest, as had been highlighted by the Ambassador of
    Argentina, on behalf of the Group of Friends of Development. If such
    balance is lost we will violate the nature of knowledge itself: we
    should never forget Thomas Jefferson's words, according to which
    there would not be any one thing less susceptible than all others of
    exclusive property than ideas, whose sharing does not necessarily
    harm anyone....

    The Brazilian Government is concerned with the fact that the Basic
    Proposal for a Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting
    Organizations, approved by the Standing Committee on Copyright and
    Related Rights, remains the object of disagreements and had not been
    able to please the majority of Members, both developed and developing.

    Should this Assembly confirm the convening of a Diplomatic
    Conference with a view to finalizing the Treaty, we must be aware
    that many questions remain to be solved after several years of hard
    work on the subject, shedding doubt on the very opportunity of such
    a negotiating exercise.

    The Brazilian Government calls for the Assembly to hold reasonable
    and comprehensive discussions on this subject. If the Diplomatic
    Conference is ultimately confirmed by this Assembly, notwithstanding
    many pending issues, we will be consciously assuming the risk of
    another failure at WIPO, repeating the outcome of the Diplomatic of
    the year 2000, meant to approve a new audiovisual treaty.

    At the international level, many different organizations are already
    engaged in assessing the impacts of intellectual property. The UN,
    UNESCO, WTO, WHO, CBD, UNCTAD and many others have been contributing
    to the debate on intellectual property and development.

Argentina, on behalf of the Group of Friends of Development, expressed
its support for a General Assembly resolution on the development agenda
that covered the following topics:

    * norm setting
    * impact assessments
    * technology transfer
    * instutional matters and mandate

Argentina called for a renewal fo the PCDA mandate for two years till
2008. With respect to the broadcasting treaty, Argentina noted that the
draft basic proposal (DBP) contained articles on limitations and
exceptions and defense of competition which were important to the
Friends of Development. Argentina that the exclusion of simulcasting and
webcasting from the DBP was a sine qua non condition for proceding with
a Diplomatic Conference.

With respect to the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related
Rights' (SCCR) work on limitations and exceptions, Chile noted that
"hicimos una propuesta destinada a discutir y consensuar excepciones y
limitaciones minimas, especificamente para personas discapacitadas, para
bibliotecas y archivos, y con fines educacionales".

On the question of the proposed broadcasting treaty, the delegation of
Chile stated "apopyamos su desarollo y consolidacion, sin embargo
coincidimos con aquellos que piensan que el actual estado de la
discussion no tiene madurez y claridad suficiente como para intentar su
conclusion en el futuro cercano" while stressing that "[n]uestra
preferencia es que sigamos trabajando este ano y el 2007 y que sea la
Asamblea General del proximo ano la que tome la decision sobre el
llamado a una posible conferencia diplomatica en la materia".


/posted by Thiru Balasubramaniam @ 11:43 PM
<http://fromgeneva.blogspot.com/2006/09/wipo-general-assembly-impressions-from.html>/