Switzerland Urges Immediate Search For New WIPO Director General

Published on 5 October 2007 @ 1:44 am

Intellectual Property Watch

By William New
Switzerland, in its role as host country of the World Intellectual Property Organization, this week issued a call for an immediate search for a new leader of the organisation in order to address concerns of mismanagement and lack of credibility.

In an unusually blunt press statement, the Swiss government expressed dissatisfaction with the failure of the organisation to agree on a budget for the next biennium at its annual General Assembly which concluded Wednesday (IPW, WIPO, 4 October 2007).

Of concern is that Geneva-based WIPO, an important agency of the United Nations, is facing a “serious credibility” issue, and has been criticised for many years due to its management, according to an unofficial translation of the Swiss statement. It cited problems that have been reported to member states and documented through internal and external audits.

In this context, “Switzerland believes that the process of renewing WIPO management (director) should be begun without delay,” it said.

One concern is that the director general, Kamil Idris, has not deemed it necessary to personally answer questions that have been put to him, the government said. These have included questions about his change of birth date in the organisation records after more than two decades.

As host to many international organisations, Switzerland in its governance follows principles of transparency, integrity and reliability at organisations, it said.

Therefore, Switzerland said all appropriate measures should be taken to restore the organisation’s credibility, and it should be a priority to immediately begin the process of selecting a person able to bring about the restoration to be nominated for director general.

William New may be reached at wnew@ip-watch.ch.

Catherine Saez contributed to this report.

French-language statement here:

Communiqué de presse
Berne, le 4 octobre 2007
La Suisse n’est pas satisfaite au terme de
l’Assemblée générale de l’OMPI

Les travaux de l’Assemblée générale de l’Organisation mondiale de la propriété
intellectuelle (OMPI), qui s’est tenue à Genève du 24 septembre au 3 octobre
2007, n’ont pas permis, faute de majorité qualifiée, d’adopter le budget
2008/2009 et ont montré que cette importante organisation fait face à un
sérieux problème de crédibilité. Depuis des années, l’OMPI fait l’objet de
critiques qui concernent en particulier sa direction. Divers manquements ont
été portés à la connaissance des États membres et sont documentés dans des
audits internes et externes. Dans ce contexte, la Suisse estime qu’il faut
désormais préparer sans délai le processus de renouvellement de la direction
de l’OMPI.

La Suisse, qui attend du Directeur général qu’il soit comptable de sa gestion devant
les États membres de l’Organisation, regrette que ce dernier n’ait pas jugé utile de
répondre personnellement aux questions qui lui ont été posées à ce sujet. Elle
estime qu’il s’agit désormais de prendre toutes les mesures appropriées en vue de
restaurer la crédibilité de l’Organisation, faute de quoi celle-ci ne saurait s’acquitter
des tâches qui lui incombent.

À cet effet, la Suisse juge prioritaire de préparer sans plus attendre, conformément
aux dispositions statutaires de l’Organisation, le processus de sélection visant à
désigner au poste de Directeur général dune personnalité à même de soutenir le
nécessaire processus de rénovation de l’OMPI.

La Suisse abrite de très nombreuses organisations internationales et elle s’engage,
de manière continuelle et avec détermination, en faveur de la meilleure gouvernance.

Elle défend des principes de gestion fondés sur l’intégrité, la transparence, la fiabilité
et l’efficacité. Il est dans l’intérêt de la coopération multilatérale que les organisations
internationales établies à Genève ou ailleurs se conforment à ces standards.

Categories: News, English, United Nations, WIPO

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Comments

IP Watcher says:
5 October 2007 at 5:21 am
The press statement is available in Englich (http://www.admin.ch/aktuell/00089/index.html?lang=en&msg-id=14988), German (http://www.admin.ch/aktuell/00089/index.html?lang=de&msg-id=14988) and Italian (http://www.admin.ch/aktuell/00089/index.html?lang=it&msg-id=14988).
Daniele F says:
10 October 2007 at 1:35 pm
The Press release is not a surprise: the Swiss have their own declared candidate to replace the current DG. So their position may not be so “transparent” and in favor os good governance as they proclame.

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Switzerland Urges Immediate Search For New WIPO Director General

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