World Intellectual Property Organization - 16th Session of the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property

World Intellectual Property Organization - The 16th Session of the Committee on Intellectual Property and Development was held in Geneva, from 9 to 13 November 2015. Chair: Permanent Representative of Argentina to the UN in Geneva, Mr. Alberto Pedro d'Alotto.

The Committee is mandated to discuss issues concerning intellectual property and development. Greece, serving as the Group B Coordinator, delivered the following opening statement on behalf of the Group of Developed countries (Group B) :

Mr. Chair,

At the outset, Group B would like to congratulate you on your continuous leadership of the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property. We are confident that the Committee will once again be able to make progress during this session. Furthermore, Group B would like to thank the Director General and the Secretariat for their preparation for this session.

We would like to notice with satisfaction that the meeting of this Committee comes after the successful conclusion of WIPO’s General Assemblies, which revitalized the program of the Organization by sorting out some outstanding issues in a constructive and cooperative  manner and in a spirit of compromise.

Mr. Chair, eight years have passed since the Development Agenda was adopted by the General Assembly. During these years WIPO has made great progress in implementing the Development Agenda and has attained remarkable achievements in tackling issues concerning IP and Development.

We would like to welcome the enrichment of the agenda of this session with various topics. At the same time we believe that it is of the benefit of all Delegations to finish the work of the Committee within the predetermined timeframe.

Reserving the right for further elaboration under each agenda item, Group B would like to take this opportunity to touch upon some items in front of us.

First, we welcome the Evaluation Report of the Project on Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer: Common Challenges – Building solutions. The document contains useful conclusions which constitute appreciated food for thought on how could WIPO further contribute to facilitating technology transfer. We also welcome the gradual structure of the proposed layout. We believe it is a good basis for discussion, subject to further elaboration under the agenda item. In addition, we would like to see a way forward within the existing WIPO structure, which we consider to be sufficient and adequate.

Secondly, as far as the External Review of WIPO Technical Assistance in the Area of Cooperation for Development is concerned, our group believes that WIPO has been successfully conducting its technical assistance. Technical assistance should be continuously improved from viewpoints of both effectiveness and planning.  At the same time, the expertise of the secretariat should be exploited to the full extent by the avoidance of micromanagement. Moreover, we believe that all the programmes under the umbrella of Technical Assistance can bear fruits and contribute to the objectives they are created for only if they are evaluated in a transparent, neutral, efficient and evidence based manner. Appropriate evaluation and reflection on lessons learnt are essential components for the healthy operation of the organization.

Coming to WIPO and the Post-2015 Development Agenda or rather the Agenda 2030 , we would like to thank the Secretariat for the preparation of the document CDIP/16/8. Even though this still might be an early phase to have a thorough debate, we are of the view that the document contains analytical information which can explore ways in which WIPO could support Member States’ efforts to achieve the Post-2015 Development Agenda and more specifically the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. That support should be focused and provided with due regard to WIPO’s mandate. Hence, as a first step, we need to clarify those SDG’s which are relevant to WIPO’s work.

Lastly, we follow closely the work undertaken by the Review Team on the Independent Review of the implementation of the Development Agenda Recommendations (Inception report). We would also like to welcome the engagement of the key stakeholders especially beneficiaries of Technical Assistance.

Finally, Mr. Chair- please rest assured that you can count on the constructive spirit and support of delegations of our group during this session of the committee.

I thank you, Mr. Chair.