Committee Meetings

PCDA: Milestone Agreement on WIPO Development Agenda

The Fourth Session of the Provisional Committee on Proposals Related to a WIPO Development Agenda (PCDA), which met from June 11 to 15, closed on a high note when Member States agreed on a final list of proposals to be recommended for action to the WIPO General Assembly in September. The recommendations included the establishment of a new Committee on Development and Intellectual Property to take forward work on the development agenda.

WIPO Director General Kamil Idris hailed the agreement as a major breakthrough in the discussions on a development agenda for WIPO, describing it as a milestone in the history of the Organization. "This process, and the spirit of compromise and mutual understanding in which it took place," he commented, "is an important contribution to international efforts to promote the development of a balanced intellectual property system that is responsive to the needs and interests of all countries - developed and developing alike." Mr. Sherif Saadallah, who as Executive Director of the Office of Strategic Use of Intellectual Property for Development oversees WIPO's work relating to the development agenda, joined Dr. Idris in highlighting the energy, political commitment and sense of balance which had characterized the negotiations.

The negotiators from 93 Member States reached agreement on a set of principles and objectives covering five "clusters" of activities, grouped under the following themes:

* Cluster A: Technical Assistance and Capacity Building;

* Cluster B: Norm-setting, Flexibilities, Public Policy and the Public Domain;

* Cluster C: Technology Transfer, Information and Communication Technology and Access to Knowledge;

* Cluster D: Assessments, Evaluation and Impact Studies;

* Cluster E: Institutional Matters including Mandate and Governance.

A first set of 24 proposals agreed by the PCDA in February will be added to the 21 proposals agreed upon at the June session to form the full set of proposals to be submitted to the General Assembly in September. In order to accelerate implementation, the PCDA will continue informal consultations regarding proposals which could be implemented immediately...