Review Of WIPO Development Agenda Implementation Picks Up Pace

An independent review of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s implementation of its 2007 Development Agenda Recommendations is progressing. A team of experts conducting the review, appointed by WIPO in May, just submitted their inception report to WIPO.

The WIPO Development Agenda was a landmark agreement, and proponents intended for it to substantively transform the United Nations organisation. Developing countries have been closely monitoring implementation of the Development Agenda’s 45 Recommendations.

The inception report has not yet been made public. The WIPO website for the review is here.

After the terms of reference were adopted at the 14th session of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) in November 2014, the WIPO secretariat was tasked with finding three experts to carry out the review.

The terms of reference specified that two experts in the field of IP and development should be selected, one with practical experience in delivery of IP technical assistance, and the other with practical experience in dealing with development challenges. The other expert would be a professional lead evaluator (IPW, WIPO, 11 November 2014).

In May, V.K. Gupta, formerly senior advisor and director of the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India was appointed as Team Leader.

Pedro Roffe, a long-time IP and development expert, was appointed as IP and Development Expert. Gift Huggins Sibanda, former director general of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), was appointed as IP and Technical Assistance Expert.

According to a WIPO source, following the terms of reference, the WIPO secretariat went through a number of possible names for the review team, looking for balance in terms of region, developed and developing countries, and gender, and the director general made his decision in May. There is one expert from Asia, one from Latin America and one from Africa. The list was not shared with governments beforehand as prescribed by the terms of reference, the source told Intellectual Property Watch.

An “inception” report was submitted to the WIPO secretariat in early August by the expert team and by the end of September this report is expected to be shared with member states for comments, he said.

Once the inception report is discussed with member states, it will contain a timetable with all steps involved, and will indicate a possible timeframe for the production of the report. The WIPO secretariat is facilitating the process but has no involvement in it, the source said.

 

Image Credits: Catherine Saez